


Caller of the Aspects

by Rutkowski



Series: Outlawverse [3]
Category: Angel: the Series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV), Nordiska väsen | Vaesen (Roleplaying Game), Norse Religion & Lore
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Humor, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bechdel Test Pass, Canon LGBTQ Character, Canon Lesbian Character, Canon Lesbian Relationship, Canon-Typical Violence, Dawn Summers is The Key, Diary/Journal, F/F, Homophobic Language, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, LGBTQ Character, Post-Season/Series Finale, Redemption, References to Norse Religion & Lore, References to Vaesen Lore & Monsters, Road Trips, no betas we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 17:41:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 46,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27760171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rutkowski/pseuds/Rutkowski
Summary: We're back!Part 3 of 4 of the Outlawverse story.Post-S7 in an AU that goes divergent after Wrecked in S6.More episodic than the past two partsTrying to use a lot of original materials, avoiding the post-S7 comics as much as possibleMostly in a modified POV format. The bias in descriptions of past is on purpose, how the subject in question sees the events that matter. So, some characters get the short stick as they're rather antagonistic towards the main characters.Tags and characters added as the story develops***PART 1 AND 2 SPOILER RECAP***AU where Tara is alive, Tillow is active and they travel the country in a pickup truck with Faith and Dawn who's been a couple for about a yearSunnydale is goneBuffy, Angel and Giles have reformed the Watcher's Council, joined by Xander, Wesley and others.Rack, Warren, Spike, Anya, Connor, Wood and some minor characters are all deadWillow is a Norse Technopagan, Faith is pardoned and refuted the new Council, Tara is a Celtic Wicca and Dawn is a trained fighter using minor magic as well as Key blood to supplement her skillsetBuffy hates the main four for faking emancipation papers for Dawn
Relationships: Faith Lehane & Tara Maclay, Faith Lehane & Willow Rosenberg, Faith Lehane/Dawn Summers, Tara Maclay & Dawn Summers, Tara Maclay/Willow Rosenberg, Willow Rosenberg & Dawn Summers
Series: Outlawverse [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2023291
Kudos: 10





	1. April 22, 2003. Eureka, California

**Author's Note:**

> I recommend reading both Confessions of a Bad Witch and Chooser of the Slain before approaching this but if you just want an episodic, road-trippy deal with a bunch of superpowered lesbians surviving post-Chosen then go ahead, not gonna stop ya!
> 
> Also, not dropping angsty character drama just because I'm outside the confines of S6/S7, just as a warning.
> 
> I may sneak into a song line here and there into the dialogue because I think it's fun and I'm not creative enough to write something as good as they can. Sue me!
> 
> plsdontsueme
> 
> Images borrowed from the English Vaesen main sourcebook.

_10:22 PM_   
_The Wild Hog Biker Bar_   
_15 miles North of Eureka_

"Since you passed on the deserts, do you girls want something to drink instead? The night is early, still."

Faith looked at the others who all nodded.

"Alright, we'll take another round. A tall cold one for each of them and glass of milk for me."

The other three didn't fake the shock their faces displayed.

"What? I'm the driver for the rest of the night, right? And if there's something actually decent I learned from the Mayor it was the habit of drinking milk instead of sugar water."

Willow blinked her eyes slowly. The others had heard the many stories of Mayor Wilkins but she had actually experienced them. Both when he were an immortal, human-ish warlock and when he was the host of the Old One Olvikan. She had been held hostage by him and Faith and she had seen the pure and potent evil in his eyes.

She never really forgot the fact that he was a decent, if manipulative, mentor to a lonely teen who lived hand to hand. Only Faith knew the entire truth of that affair. The others knew enough to not question her positive nostalgia of that time because they knew she had realized a long time ago that he was manipulating her, that she only brought the good things with her as she began her crusade for redemption.

Still, milk was about as unfaithy as things got. She didn't blame them that they wigged out a bit. If they had pushed her on it, she'd gladly admit that she still enjoyed messing with them. Hell, she would've admitted it without any inquiry if Tara hadn't checked their map for the fifth time that evening.

"Alright T, we've been patient enough for you. We're leaving California tonight and you drive after the crossing into the big ear. You said that once we switched we wouldn't be stopping until we reached our destination. So I think it's time you tell us where were going, the surprise is killing us."

Tara knew she had to fold eventually. She didn't look forward to going back but this could be the last chance she got to do so. Even with the dangers of Sunnydale left behind them, buried in that pit of rubble, corpses, pain and horrors in what is already being called the Sunnydale Crater Bay, she knew that the dangers of the mundane was nothing compared to the supernatural perils that had formed an ever present part in their lives. And, to be true to herself, she somehow knew that they would never be free of them. It was in them, all of them.

Within the last month they had zig-zagged the California coast as they slowly made their way north towards the state border. They had kept a low profile, avoiding the attention of both the law and the new Watcher's Council. Willow had a source within the organization that kept them informed of all important developments and the source was apparently quite high within the hierarchy.

They had been told that Giles had gotten complete access to all remaining holdings and resources of the old Council. With so few members left he had become the ranking member and had put those resources to use. Together with Buffy and Angel they had formed a triumvirate to lead the new organization.

Buffy was in charge of the Slayers themselves. She organized Slayer recruiting efforts, organizational structure, grand strategy and patrol schedules. Angel was in charge of Slayer training, division of jurisdictions, secret operations and off-the-book contacts with the demonic underworld. Giles took care of the rest with an extra focus on the research department, asset holdings as well recruiting and training of new Watchers.

The organization was growing almost daily. From the roughly two dozen individuals they had started out with they were already over three hundred, all around the world. Former Potentials that were in hiding with their Watchers during the Harbinger attacks resurfaced and joined the fold while others, shunned by their families and friends after developing superpowers, joined to find a new home and life for themselves. Others refused, a few violently, but the vast majority of those who have been contacted had either joined up or were considering the offers.

Faith was never contacted again after they left the ruins of Sunnydale. Even if Buffy hadn't hated what they did when they took Dawn with them, she wouldn't have wanted Faith anywhere near her long-term anyway. As it was they were in the strange situation of avoiding some of their oldest friends, even family, now that Buffy were approaching a situation where she could actually physically enforce her guardianship over her younger sister. They hoped that as long as they didn't rock the boat she'd be too busy with the day-to-day tasks of the Council.

So here they sat. The Dark Slayer, the Key Shieldmaiden, the Red Valkyrie and the Guardian Angel. The were the Outlaws.

It was a name they had taken to in jest. They were family, nothing else, but they knew they would be labeled by both the Scoobies and the Underworld. So, the name stuck. And the nicknames had spread following the Battle at the Hellmouth. Tara was guiltily proud over having become a figure, a title, that inspired both legends, fear and awe. People looked up at her and monsters feared her. She was still Tara Maclay, daughter of Fiona Maclay, though. A, still rather shy, Wicca who want to do nothing else but live in peace with her soulmate and their two best friends.

But first, she had to go back to her roots. She was going back to the place where she was someone they looked down to, someone who had fled from the small town and then shunned her family when they tried to bring her back. The Maclays were a name that also inspired fear and awe. Her father was the church's groundskeeper and was known to be stern but fair. They didn't know just how stern and just how unfair he was when the town had their eyes elsewhere. Tara knew. And Fiona knew, she knew up until the end.

"You are right, Faith. You've all been incredibly patient with me and I thank you for it."

Tara took Willow's hand for support as she paused, waiting for the waitress to leave their beers and then continue to the next table.

"We're going back home to Coquille, back to visit my mother one last time."

Willow and Dawn glanced at each other before turning back to her.

"Tara, I thought your mother was, well, dead?" She squealed out the last word, almost ashamed to have even brought it up. "I mean, that's what Buffy told me. That you told her, I mean."

Tara offered a smile as reassurance that Dawn was both correct and that she had not offended anyone.

"And Buffy spoke the truth, Dawnie. I mean my mother's grave, obviously. I haven't seen it since I fled my home the day of my graduation from Winter Lakes High. I thought I'd never be able to return but once we decided to leave Sunnydale I realized that if I didn't go there now I'd miss what is probably the last chance of my lifetime."

Willow started to use her thumb to rub circles on the top of Tara's hand. It's a motion they both used that served the twin purpose of reinforcing both the one being held but also for the one doing the motion. It was safe, it was warm and it was reinsurance.

"Okay T, I don't think anyone here has any problem with that." The others nodded profusely. "I mean, I wasn't there on your birthday but Shieldy told me they came and tried to bag you and drag you back to what, be their friggin' maidservant because they're too rubbish to leave the parlor and clean their asses?"

Willow giggled. Leave it to Faith to explain it more clearly than she ever had.

"Yeah, that's pretty much it. They had forced her into believing she'd turn into a demon at her birthday, that their abuse was the only way to keep her safe."

Faith growled as she pulled her glass of milk to her mouth.

"So, we're going to give them a wicked curb stomping while we're there too, right?"

Willow, at that moment, wished she was a better person. Someone who could forgive and forget what they had done, planned to do, to Tara. Someone who didn't feel a strong sensation of excitement in the back of her brain when it came to the prospect of throwing her father through the wall while Donnie was held by a foot through the second-floor window by a very angry Faith.

Actually, when she thought about it, she wished she would wish she was that person. As it was she was content with keeping a straight face just in case Tara turned her eyes over to her.

"No Faith, we're not. I've already mapped out our plan. Tomorrow, in the morning we'll be at the only motel in town to catch some sleep. It's okay, better than your old room, and after that it's dinner. Then I go to mom's grave. You are all welcome to join me but I hope you do not mind that I would only want me and Willow by the stone." She turned to Willow who nodded to show she would come with her. "Afterwards, we go back to local dive. It's next to the motel so we can relax, I can buy you all beers as thanks and then we can leave the next morning. I don't want any fuss, I just want to say a final goodbye. Is this okay with everyone?"

Her table companions all responded in the affirmative but Willow raised her hand as if she was still back in Sunnydale High.

"Yes sweetie, I got the itinerary here and yes you are allowed to make small adjustments as well as book tables and rooms for our stay. No big changes and try to give us more than five minutes of margin between each planned event."

Willow kissed her on the cheek and accepted the notebook with one hand as she pulled out a series of differently-colored pens.

It was very early morning the next day that Tara saw the Welcome to Coquille-sign. Population 4210, not much change since she ran away. Soon she'd be at the motel, they'd been faster than she expected, and after that it was nothing but a river separating her and the home and life she had long ago abandoned. A new song from some Finnish newcomers gently crooned from the car stereo.

_"The devil grins from ear to ear when he sees the hand he's dealt us_   
_Points at your flaming hair, and then we're playing hide and seek_   
_I can't breathe easy here, unless our trail's gone cold behind us_   
_Til in the jar mirror, you stare at yourself grown old and weak"_

She turned to Willow, her girl's own 'flaming hair' gently resting over the features of her content, elfin face. They had both played with the hand the devil dealt them and they didn't fold. They might bust but not fold, never fold.


	2. April 23, 2003. Coquille, Oregon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Identity Issues, Visiting the In-laws and a Visit from the Doctor.

_1:41 PM_   
_Tracy's Diner_   
_Coquille, Oregon_

It was quiet in the little restaurant despite the half a dozen tables all being occupied. Tara and Faith had gone out to restock on travel supplies after they finished the dinner and Willow took the chance to continue tutoring Dawn as she worked to finish her GEDs.

The group had dressed in muted colors. Faith wore her blue denim jacket over a black shirt and cargo pants, the closest she had to 'church clothes.' Dawn wore her hair in the usual thick single braid, dark blue shirt and blue jeans, not having packed for formal occasions when she took the most important and versatile clothes with her. And her favorite top which may or may not have actually been Buffy's, she plead the fifth when Tara asked her about it. Willow wore her purple, pattern-free dress that she had bought for Xander's wedding rehearsal but never got to use, wanting to be dressed up when meeting what would essentially be her mother-in-law. Tara was the only one dressed in all-black, a wide-strapped dress that she carried with elegance. Since she was the only one that knew they'd be going to the grave when they packed their luggage she was able to bring the most fitting clothing.

As if being all dressed up, relatively speaking, didn't make them stand out enough in the homely diner there was also the unavoidable fact that they were outsiders, Even Tara. She hadn't been in Coquille in almost five years and had only met her family once since then, on her 20th birthday, an event that ended up with her disowning her heritage and starting a new life on her own. After a while the glancing towards them became nothing more that background noise and when only Willow and Dawn remained they were too immersed in the schoolwork that they failed to register anyone else as long as they weren't disturbed.

Eventually, Dawn closed the books, finished with the day's assigned workload, and met Willow's eyes as the older woman finished the last of her green apple Jones soda.

"Willow? When did you actually realize that you were gay?"

To say that Willow was caught unprepared for that question was an understatement on the level of 'hey I think Angel is quite broody' or 'Buffy seems to have quite the bit on her shoulder these days'. Dawn had planned for it, she hoping for a genuine and immediate answer instead of a prepared 'line' and with the coughing fit that she shorter woman was experiencing in front her she was pretty sure she was successful.

"I, err, w-what. Uhh, that's a complicated question Dawnie. What brought this up?"

Dawn kept her eyes locked to Willows to show that she didn't back down but tempered the mood with a genuine smile to show she had nothing but good intentions.

"Don't change the subject, Will. You and Tara avoided this question back when I was in junior high, claiming you'd tell me when I'm older. Well, here we are and here I am."

Dawn crossed her arms and her smile turned smug. Willow would've been annoyed by it but it was a well-deserved smuggy attitude, Dawn had her by the ropes and she knew it. She sighed.

"Okay, I'll try. You see, some tell you that when you first meet your soulmate it's sparks flying and choirs singing in the background. That wasn't our first meeting, it was our second. It was back in college, first year, the last night of the Gentlemen's attack about a month and a half after Oz cheated on me and then left me. We first saw each other at the Wicca meeting a few days before and she tried to support me when I wanted to do witchy stuff but some socialite co-ed just wanted to be all HOA-bossy about it and ensure it was her way or the highway."

She saw that Dawn didn't get the reference but shrugged inwardly, deciding to move on.

"She went to find me that last night and got pursued by the Gentlemen. She crashed into me and we fled, hiding in a laundry room. When she saw that I was too weak to barricade the door, she held my hand and we moved it without breaking a magical sweat. And that's when the sparks came. Ever since then, up until I drove her away, we had small micro-charges whenever we touched. It was like our magic begged for the other's counterpart, that our spirits were one when we were together. And trust me, that doesn't happen with all you cast spells with."

Dawn nodded knowingly.

"Yeah, it sure didn't happen with me and Tara when we cast all those locator spells trying to find you."

Willow smiled sadly.

"I'm glad or I'd be forced to fight you for her and that would just not end well for me at all, even before you went all viking on us all. But, to continue: Even after that magical meeting, even after we spent most evenings together casting spells-and yes, I mean literal spells-I had a hard time overcoming my biggest enemy; myself. I've been raised with all these expectations, including the one that I'd get married and raise 2,4 jewish kids, and I had only been interested in men in that way. Or rather, that's what I told myself. In retrospect, I've realized a lot of my 'why can't I look like that' was also 'hey I wish I could feel that body smashed against my own'. But it wasn't until Faith woke up from her coma about two months after that Tara and I actually kissed for the first time."

Dawn arched an eyebrow and uncrossed her arms, leaning towards the table on her elbows. "Really? Even I had met her by then and it was, well, not impossible to notice the sparkage."

"Yes, really. I was too much into fighting my own insecure mind to even realize someone as great as she would want to be with me. It wasn't until she spelled it out for me, that she was mine, that my brain managed to fit all those connectors with the pile of jumbled wires in my head. And then, the day after when Tara helped guide me back from the nether world,"

Dawn put her hands up in protest. "Hey, I don't need any details. I thought you said you just kissed?"

Willow needed a few seconds to put two and two together before she blushed.

"No, it was Buffy's nether world." Dawn's eyes grew wide. "No, I mean I needed to see inside Buffy's body." Dawn started to pull back a bit; this was a new story to her.

Willow sighed and took a few seconds to recover her thought to ensure she didn't jumble this. "Tara has seen that something had possessed Buffy; that her aura was wrong. So, we did a spell to do an astral projection to see if Buffy was possessing Buffy's body and Tare acted as my anchor. And you know what? Someone holding on to your soul with their entire being while you have an out of body experience and then come back all hot and bothered and tingly inside and..."

Willow caught herself and coughed, remembering her brain that the mouth was being a bit too forthcoming.

"So yeah that was when I knew that I loved Tara. The day before was the day I knew I was a lesbian, even if it took me even longer to be comfortable with the label. That didn't happen until Oz came back and thought I would just sit around and wait for his cheating runaway ass without even so much of a word that he was alive. Oh, and for the record? Women know women's bodies better in every way that counts, just trust me on that."

Dawn giggled. "So, was that why you were with Oz? The whole repressive-self deal?"

Willow nodded. "Yeah. I think that's actually why I kissed Xander. I think it was my subconscious sabotaging my relationship because it just wasn't right. And that wasn't Oz' fault, that was my own stupid brain again. I just felt like I had to like guys, I had to be this woman dating the cool older guy, I had to be someone I wasn't."

She smiled in that way that Dawn recognized as the 'Willow wants for nothing because she has Tara and she is her everything'-smile. Dawn loved that smile, it was one of the reasons that she had such a hard time dealing with Willow's actions after Buffy was resurrected. Willow's need for approval and Tara's need for unconditional love allowed their supernova trajectory its singular, incendiary thrust toward its triumphant future. Unlike other witches who burned, martyred by flames, they moved on to a place where their gods are the right ones, where their future is their own.

Dawn nodded, solemnly. "Yeah, I understand that. If there's one thing I got nailed down it's identity issues. Well, abandonment and identity issues. It's been 'hey there's Buffy junior' or 'hey there's the Key' or 'hey there's the former Key and now sole Summers family member' and I just couldn't deal. I think that's why I never once stopped wanting you around, even after the crash when I was the most angry and afraid. You have been where I was, alone and looking for your true self. I think I'm getting there myself and I would never even been close if it weren't for you, Tara or Faith. Without you all I'd be in some other dirty kitchen looking on from the outside while Buffy makes her grand plan and refuse to let me go outside without an armed honor guard escort and at least two tanks."

Willow nodded understandingly. She'd seen Buffy's overprotectiveness, it was far beyond what was healthy, normal or even safe.

"I actually think part of that isn't Buffy's fault, or yours. I think those monks screwed up somewhere. They wanted Buffy to have an inherent will to protect you. My theory is that they thought she wouldn't have any, because the monks were pretty crap planners, so they added extra Protect-o-Dawnium to the recipe. Problem is, they forgot to account for her already wanting protect her baby sis and the fact that you are so loveable that she would've wanted to safe even without any sisterhood or extra boost."

Dawn smiled and leaned back into the seat of the booth.

"That actually made a lot of sense. No wonder she was about to break Fay's neck when the Taco Fest incident at Halloween happened. Overprotectiveness plus sexual activity does not equal happy Buffster." She stopped for a moment. "But wait, what do you mean with the monks being crap planners?"

Willow started to fidget with a napkin.

"Well, you see. Now, don't take this wrong, I'm entirely happy with the Dawny result of their plan. But, if they were any kind of smart they'd turn the Key into, like, a piece of iron ore in the middle of Mount Everest or a grain of sand in the Sahara. Something Glory would never be able to find before the Big Day. Instead they sent the Key to a world renowned champion, a pretty obvious guard if you think about it. But once again, very happy with our Dawny keyfication spell!"

Dawn first looked like she was getting angry before she started to laugh, a bit too loud for the rather quiet restaurant.

"You know what? Me too. But yeah, those monks were duuuumb. Just don't tell Fay about the plan or she'll start calling me Pocket Lint or Iron Ore or Crabfish Shell for weeks."

Willow agreed as they packed their supplies and headed to the front door, leaving some extra money for the tip for the time they occupied the table after the dinner. It was almost 2 PM and the girls were on their way to pick them up for the graveyard, time for Willow to meet Tara's mom.

  
***

  
"Hi mom."

Tara stood by the gravestone, Willow a couple of feet behind her. The small graveyard was connected to an old colonial church and kept in pristine condition, no littering or uneven patch of grass. By the entrance, only about sixty yards away, Faith and Dawn waited as an honor guard. They showed their respects to Fiona Maclay by honoring the wishes of her daughter. A pair of recently deposited smooth rocks laid on the top of the grave marker, stones of rememberence from Willow and Tara. It was one of the few traditions Willow retained from her jewish upbringing.

"I'm sorry I haven't visited lately. You know how it is mom. You have high school and then you flee your dad who think you're a demon birthing chamber. So you run to the most dangerous city in America and fall in love and almost die and save the world, several times. You know, stuff happen."

Willow kept her giggle as quiet as she could as Tara continued.

"It's been a tough five years, mom, but it's also been the best ones of my life. You told me to run and find my own life and I did. In Sunnydale I found my new family, my friends, my home and most important of all, my Willow."

She reached her left arm backward and Willow grasped her hand as she stepped up beside her.

"Willow's fearless in her love, devoted to compassion. The highest state of art, she's piercing in her truth. Sincere in all her intention, the way she wear her heart, hold my heart. She's my everything."

Willow fought hard to prevent the escape of the tear that trickled down her right cheek but found it to be in vain.

"Hi mrs Maclay."

"Fiona," Tara interrupted her.

"Hi Fiona. I'm sorry I never got the chance to know you but I'm glad I'm here. I love your Tara and she sing nothing but the highest praises of you. I understand why. You made her life bearable when Donny and her father did everything they could to keep her spirit and hopes boxed away. I owe you my eternal gratitude for that. I will do, I am trying, my best to do right by her and even though I've made some horrible decisions in the past I am doing everything in my power to never become that person again. Thank you for giving the world this angel. You'd be proud of her. She's strong, brave, wise, empathic and she even faced down a hellgod in a battle of wills and won, in a way. Very few could have even attempted to do that. She's Tarrific!"

As Tara kissed Willow on the side of her head her smile was felt through the hair.

"We're not staying long, mom. Our home was lost saving the world so we'll be traveling the country with our two best friends. You'd like them. Faith takes no crap from anyone and Dawnie is the sweetest, and probably the most resourceful, girl you'd ever meet. I'm probably not coming back again but please don't think I'm abandoning you, I'm just trying to explore the life you gave me."

Tara bent down and kissed the top of the gravestone with tears in her eyes. She reached for her purse and started digging around before a discrete cough alerted her to Willow holding out a napkin.

They stood in silence for several minutes, embraced in a half hug and their minds lost elsewhere, and didn't even notice the heavy footsteps approaching.

"I thought you had turned your back on us Tara, that you were happy back in that decadent city of sin?"

Tara froze in fear as she recognized the voice. Willow turned her head to see the Maclay patriarch and when she recognized him it only took a moment for her to quickly reposition. She put herself inbetween father and daughter with her left hand ready to throw him half a block into the distance while the right was held in her small messenger bag, firmly gripped on the telescope baton.

"I'd say keeping the distance is the most prudent course of action here, mister Maclay. Don't you agree?"

His already stern frown quickly grew into anger but he kept his distance.

"I work here, little girl, and you are defiling the grave of my late wife. I'm the caretaker of these graves and the church and you are both trespassers."

Willow scoffed, loudly, ensuring he knew that he had no sway over her.

"Humbug! I know the graveyard is open to the public on Wednesdays and Fiona's daughter got as much, if not more, right to visit her than the poor excuse man who made both of their lives helltastic."

He passed the mental barrier that kept him at bay paced towards them.

"Listen here, harlot. You will not blaspheme on holy lands and you will not disturb the peace. Leave now, both of you, or I'll make you leave."

He gripped Willow's outstretched arm and was just about to jank her away from his daughter, towards the exit of the graveyard, when he felt a firm grip on his shoulder.

"My apologies, old man, but I think you've made a bit of a mistake. There's a plot of grass over there that needs to be flattened."

In a swift move that both let Willow free from his grasp and dislodged him from his position, Faith threw the man in the direction he arrived from and he landed on a patch of extremely well-kept grass.

"You guys okay? T, did he touch you?"

She shook her head, still saying nothing. She hadn't plan to linger in the holy grounds, just for this reason. She was so content, so peaceful, leaning towards Willow as they spent time with her departed mother. It was the only kind of family reunion she wanted and even now her father tried to spoil it.

"N-no. Willow kept him away. Where's Dawnie? I think we should go back to the motel."

Faith nodded towards the entrance they arrived from where the tall teen stood still, her telescopic spear collapsed but held ready. Her expression was determined, she was waiting for a signal to jump in and intervene at a moment's notice.

"She's keeping watch. Good job Red. I know you'd handle this but didn't want you to scuff that hot thing, Tara would never forgive me if she wasn't the one to tear it into pieces."

Willow looked at her incredulously before realizing that she shouldn't even pretend to be surprised with her friend's overt innuendo. She turned towards Tara's father who was slowly getting back on his feet.

"I think it's time for us to leave. And you!" She pointed at the man. "You stay away from her. Faith giving you a hand is the only reason that I haven't broken every bone in your hands. Keep your ignorant holier-than-thou butt away from others, that idiocy should have ended with the invention of running water."

She felt Tara pull at her arm and they moved towards Dawn and the entrance, Faith following them, moving backwards with her front towards the groundskeeper, a few steps behind them.

It wasn't until the girls pulled away in the truck that they were able to let their guard down. Dawn took the opportunity to question them of the events and ensuring that Tara was good enough for them to head to the bar for their ad-hoc memorial feast.

  
***

  
"To Fiona Maclay; she gave us Tara and she taught her daughter the patience of a thousand zen monks thus leaving her able to put up with me during the angstiest and whiniest years of my life!"

Tara smiled as Dawn delivered the last toast, they had each agreed to one toast each to avoid getting too much to drink, and felt a lot more relaxed than she did before they entered the dive bar. They had gone to their respective rooms and the witches switched to more casual clothing so they wouldn't stand out more than necessary in the low-grade drinking hole.

They had gotten some buffalo wings as supper and kept themselves busy with cheap beer and listening to Tara telling stories of her childhood. It was a rare treat, even Willow knew little but the most important basic facts and events, but Tara kept to the happy stories with her mom and their efforts to stay true to their faiths and selves in a home that tolerated neither.

The bar wasn't big but it was packed, being the only establishment of its kind in Coquille, and the girls were glad they had arrived early in the evening to secure a table.

Tara tensed up every now and then as she recognized some of the young patrons, mostly men but a few women, who seemed to be regulars. Willow had asked her about it and guessed correctly; they were old classmates of Tara or old friends of her brother Donny. Dawn had asked her if she wanted to say hello to any old friends but was informed that classmate was a far cry from friend, much closer to antagonist. Or tormentor.

So they stayed in their seats, Faith sitting closest to the bar and as such she pulled refreshment duty, and kept to themselves. Willow sat opposite to Faith and helped Tara stay low whenever she felt the risk of someone recognizing her. Some fears and nightmares never got completely dispelled, no matter how distant they were and she appreciated the support from her chosen family.

Their insular gathering was interrupted around midnight by a tall woman of Tara and Willow's age. Her long black hair was kept in a ponytail that highlighted her sharp cheekbones and her small glasses and business suit gave her a serious but approachable demeanor.

"Mrs Maclay? Tara? Is that you?"

The group turned silent in an instant and remained so for several seconds before Dawn spoke up.

"Uhh, who's asking?"

The woman pulled out a business card from her purse and handed it to Dawn who read out loud. "Doctor Selina Rivers, MD, of Coquille General Clinic."

A sense of recognition breached Tara's eyes and as she glanced at Selina she realized the doctor had seen the realization. She couldn't avoid this reunion.

"It's okay, Dawnie. Selina and Donny went to Winter Lakes High together." She turned towards the newcomer and forced a smile. "I didn't know you had become a doctor, must've been recently?"

Selina nodded and pulled a chair from a nearby table to take a seat with the group. "Yeah, just started my internship here, always wanted to help out locally with the, you know, problem."

Willow glanced at her suspiciously, one hand holding her bottle and the other kept under the table, one comforting Tara's own.

"Problem? What problem?"

Tara sighed. She feared that once she divulged what the 'problem' was Willow and the others would feel obliged to try to help out and Tara wanted nothing else but to leave the city in the dust in the morning, they had long passed the time where she felt compelled to help her tormentors out of duty to her family.

"Sweetie, please don't be disappointed in me for what I'm about to tell you." Willow held her hand firm and smiled reassuringly. "My last memory of my mother was with black ooze leaking from her mouth and ears as she died, cold and in pain in that sterile hospital bed. The 'problem', the illness is known as the Mare's Kiss and the local leaders here has always claimed it was the curse that we Maclay women had spread for over a century. About thirty years ago my father had come up with the 'cure,' as he called it. The cure was applied to prevent the demon inside us from releasing the illness again."

Faith clenched her now-empty bottle, hard, and did her best to not go back to the church to see just how far she could throw Tara's father.

"The 'cure' was far from medicinal, or even folksy. The cure was applied through backbreaking labor, little sleep, no contacts with the outside world and above everything else, corporal punishment for every infraction. Every slip of the tongue, every burnt dinner, every delayed housework demanded the full application of the 'cure' with no quarter given."

Willow tried to keep her temper in check by working the problem, trying to find out what the Mare's Kiss actually entailed.

"What do the local doctors say? If it's some kind of contagious disease, shouldn't there be the CDC involved or quarantine measures? You'd think a localized plague with such rare symptoms would be a goldmine for medical researchers. Is it a virus, bacteria or, err, a 'strange affliction'?"

Tara shook her head and turned to Selina who had remained quiet. She had never been friends with Tara, she mostly knew her through Donny who she had dated in high school. During those years she joined him in light teasing and friendly ribbing, usual for siblings and their close friends, but the Tara she saw before her was not the one she last knew eight years ago. Her stuttering was all but completely gone, her posture reflected more strength than shyness and she spoke with confidence and knowledge that her friends gave her the support she needed and trusted her implicitly. The sheer fact that she had friends was surprising enough, to have several close friends who all protected her was nothing short of a miracle, Selina thought.

"The good doctor Rivers, Selina's father, was in full knowledge of the 'cure' and all that it entailed. He supported it and offered no other recourse for those of us who were falsely blamed for being demons, for being responsible for his ineptitude.

That pissed Selina off. Her late father was a good man, one who had helped keep their community healthy as best as he could for over thirty years before the Mare's Kiss claimed him as well. It was why she had gone into medicine, to try to stop the Maclay curse from killing more innocent people.

"Oh shut it, _Maclay_. He did everything he could, it wasn't his fault that you refused to accept your role in the curse, avoiding the responsibilities that Donald Maclay gave you. The sheer fact that you went away and got married right out of high school did nothing but increase the spread of infection almost tenfold."

"Wait, married? I'm not married, I've never been married."

Selina calmed down marginally but had noticed that people around them quieted down, obviously eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Donny told me you married and that your husband kept the cure going. He claimed that's why you didn't return back home with them when you turned 20, why else would you shirk away from your duty to your family?"

A large pop silenced the bar as Faith crushed her empty bottle in her hand. She was angry and didn't care about the several shards of glass stuck in her fingers, even as Dawn moved to help remove them without a second's pause. She had seen the white knuckles on the Slayer's hand and already prepared a pincer and a napkin for the inevitable fallout. The group noticed that more of the patrons were now openly listening to their discussion with grim and curious expressions.

"Hey, basic doctor biddy? That curse rubbish was a lie from the start, T ain't the cause or cure for it. Her parish pissing father made that stuff up to have an excuse to torment T and her mom."

Selina looked at Faith and her bleeding hand with wide eyes as Tara continued the conversation.

"I'm not married and I've never been." She moved her hand that was entwined with Willow's to the table, displaying her allegiances quite openly. "I can't get married and even if I could, Willow and I haven't made that decision yet."

Willow beamed with pride even as she turned red, blushing over the implications of Tara's response.

"Darn tootin'!. She didn't go with her father because we, and some old friends, showed him that she had friends and family that actually cared for her, who didn't want to control her with a lie." The memories of the following year briefly stung her with shame and remorse as she paused to finish her beer. "He and his son and niece got run out of town, their tails behind their legs, by a bunch of girls, a librarian and a carpenter. We're only here to visit Mrs Maclay's final resting place to pay our respects to the only decent woman left in this town, other than my Tarebear of course. And that's _miss_ Tarebear to you, Rivers."

She kissed Tara on the cheek, the kiss-ee allowing a smug grin appear.

"And seriously," Dawn interjected. "You must be really dumb as a doctor if you think a magic plague can be cured by domestic abuse and mental torment. No wonder the people in this town is dying in droves, they're the kingdom of the blind and their doctor is a one-eyed drunkard!"

Tara moved her free hand to Dawn's shoulder to calm her down. She appreciated the support but the bar wasn't friendly territory. Even if they didn't had the stigma of the Maclay name and history as well as being outsiders, they still had just declared openly that at least half of them were openly gay in a town that tolerated nothing of the sort.

"Faith, Dawnie, Sweetie? I think it's time for us to call it a night. Don't worry, Selina, we're not staying in town. You'll all be rid of us tomorrow morning and you'll never have to see us again."

They moved towards the entrance as a group, pushing their way forward swiftly but with a presence that displayed no fear, only a lack of instigating anything they might regret. As they exited the bar and walked down the street towards the motel, Dawn had her arm grabbed from behind as she was pulling up the rear.

"Doctor Rivers never said you and your dyke friends could leave, Maclay. We weren't finished in there."

A large man with a huge bear and leather jacket held Dawn in place. Faith immediately moved to free her by any means necessary but stopped in her tracks as Dawn used her free hand to signal that she was okay.

"You have five seconds to let me go, hick. After that, I'll ensure that there'll be no more future offspring Jane and Joe Hick to pollute the earth."

He laughed derisively, moving his stance so she couldn't reach her groin with leg or arms. After the seconds ran out, she threw her head backwards and crushed his nose with the back of her skull. He released his grip to stop the bleeding and she used the window of opportunity to deliver three swift knees into his groin. When he collapsed, she finished the fight with two kicks in the same area, using the full strength her stance and balance could afford. The other men who stood a couple of meters away from her backed away, unprepared for such a savage response.

"I told Limpdick Hick here what would happen and he didn't respect my wish to remain unrestrained. He got one lesson for each second he held me and it's a lesson he'll be reminded of for the rest of his sorry-ass life. Any of you inbred jagoffs interested in any extracurricular activities as well?"

She didn't wait for a response, turning on her heel to the group when Faith took her place at the rear as they moved back towards the hotel.

"Damn Shieldy, I hope you don't expect to sleep much tonight because after a show like that I got other, better, plans on my mind."

Dawn turned around and flashed a grin at the leering Slayer. They were of one mind tonight. It was just midnight when they entered the room and the church bells rang for a minute as the new day was born. They thought it was some strange local tradition to ring a new day but Tara knew what it actually meant.

When the bells rung at midnight it heralded that one of the town's inhabitants would die that day.


	3. April 24, 2003. Coquille, Oregon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angry Mob, Graveyard Snooping and Meeting the In-Laws 2 - Electric Bogaloo

_2:33 AM_   
_Friendly Arms Inn_   
_Coquille, Oregon_

DUNS DUNS DUNS

Willow rubbed her eyes as her unfocused eyes saw the time on the alarm clock. She'd been asleep for barely two hours and she was pretty certain she did NOT order an early wakeup call.

DUNS DUNS DUNS

She put on her robe and closed it tight before picking up the baton.

DUNS DUNS DUNS

"This is the Coos County Sheriff Department, open the door or we'll force it open!"

Willow growled. She did a quick spell to get dressed and hurriedly told Tara to do the same.

"Go out the back and used the balcony to get the others ready. Cops are here and nothing good can come from it. Go to the back of the church and wait there for me, I'll be there in a jiff." Tara looked at her, worried. "Don't worry baby, I'm Fine. I'm Finey McFine." She turned towards the door and hid the baton in her sleeve as she raised her voice. "I'm coming, give me ten seconds to get dressed and I'll be right there, officer."

Tara cast the same magic as Willow had done just before and snuck out the back, both of their bags in hand. As she closed the balcony door Willow put on her best shit-eating grin and opened the front door.

"Can I help you, officer? Err, officers. Officers and armed mob?"

Outside was two sheriffs as well as roughly twenty men armed with baseball bats, wood axes, tire irons and other tools and knives. On the front of the mob stood Selina Rivers with a smug grin, her arms crossed in defiance to the earlier claim she'd never see the group again.

"We're here to bring in the tall girl with brown hair who is a part of your group, she is wanted for her violent and unprovoked assault of a passing patron of the bar she had just left. We're also looking for one Tara Maclay who is wanted for her involvement and aid in the assault."

Willow laughed. Not a polite, or even shocked laugh. She laughed in their faces and she made no effort to conceal it.

"You are seriously claiming that a young woman just randomly jumped a man three times her size, unarmed, and crushed his balls so bad he'll be pissing blood for a week? And that Tara, the sweetest person in the world, would be taking part of an alleged unprovoked attack?"

The deputy next to the sheriffs held his laugh as the sheriff frowned.

"Well, you know how those dykes are. Unreliable, hysterical and with an irrational hatred of men. It's a wonder no-one else was hurt."

Willow didn't let up with her laughter, leaning with one arm against the door frame for support.

"I bet that, what did she call him, 'Limpdick Hick' never told you how he grabbed her without her consent and refused to release him? Or that he threatened our entire group as he did so?"

The deputy chuckled again and earned himself an angry glare from his boss.

"The victim, Andrew Carpenter, has a stellar reputation in this community and claim that she assaulted him without provocation. He refused to fight back, afraid to hurt the young woman, and instead opted to suffer the pain for her."

The laughter stopped on a dime and Willow adopted what her friends commonly referred to as the 'resolve face'.

"Yeah, that's a bunch of hogwash if I've ever heard any. Now, sheriff" she leaned forward a few inches to read his name tag "Carpenter. Oh. Yeah, that explains a lot. Now, I can safely say that neither Tara or the other girl is in here and I am not willing to consent to an unwarranted search, as is my right under the law. Now, get bent and let me sleep in peace."

The sheriff glanced at his deputy and then at the doctor. He expected this tiny girl to fold quickly under the threat of the law as well as the physical threat of a mob and now he didn't know what to do.

"Oh for crying out... Carpenter, let me handle this."

The doctor moved up to the door.

"Now, Willow was it? Your... _girlfriend_ is responsible for so much pain and distress and we're here to take her and your younger friend to jail so they can be properly handled. Either you let these good officers in or we'll be forced to step away and go home, leaving you to your own devices as these men will be out looking for justice."

She motioned to the crowd behind her that was growing more and more agitated. The deputy lost his humored demeanor and suddenly looked worried, afraid of what would happen to the red-headed woman if they left.

"Let. Them. Try."

Rivers motioned for the officers and the trio moved away, making space for the mob gathered outside. Willow recognized the man from the bar, his crushed nose covered in a bandage that was discolored in both red and black. The snarling grimace of Donny Maclay was also recognized at the head of the mob and Willow thanked the Goddess for the chance to get a reunion with Tara's older brother.

"That's Tara's pet dyke! I saw her when she insulted us, forced us to abandon our sister to their witchcraft!"

Willow stepped past the threshold and bent down, touching the ground with one of her hands.

_"Gras-geilar."_

The ground started to shake and the asphalt cracked, revealing inch-long gaps spread out underneath the shocked mob. Before they had the chance to recover an immense number of thick stalks of grass grasped their arms and legs and held them in place. The two of the trio backed away but the sheriff moved for his revolver before he was smacked over the wrist by the folded shaft of Dawn's spear.

"I believe you were looking for me?"

She extended the metal end of the spear and thrust it towards the deputy, stopping the motion just an inch away from his throat. Willow nodded in recognition, made her eyes turn crimson red and spoke with an altered voice, using a cantrip to inspire a terrible aura of fear with her words.

"Look in my eyes I'll make you see! You're all drifting this world aimlessly, blind in a world of make-believe." She reached out and aimed a finger at Rivers without otherwise moving a muscle. "Whatever she makes you see, make you believe, make you forget about the premonitions you need to conceive that the images they sell to you are nothing but dreams, illusions. In other words, dishonesty. She, Donny and their ilk have kept you afraid and hostile to those that do not fit your mold in order to excuse their own lies, their own inadequacies."

She whispered a spell and the sky lit up with an illusion of a lightning. It was a simple spell, only for show, but she felt that going completely Dark Phoenix was of the advantage here, as far as they knew.

Dawn removed the handguns from the sheriffs and threw them up the motel roof before moving towards their truck. While everyone else were locked in place by fear or magic, she drove up to Willow who swiftly jumped into the passenger seat.

"Let's go. Faith and Tara are headed to the church as you asked, I fibbed and said I forgot a bag because I had seen how many they were. How long will they be stuck like that?"

Willow smiled as her voice and eyes returned to normal while the car drove away from the motel.

"They spell is in place for another thirty minutes but I expect they'll use those implements to get free earlier on. Thanks and nice moves by the way, I was afraid I'd have to break some bones to prevent any shooting."

Dawn smiled, proudly, as she drove down the same way they had gone earlier that day.

"No problem! I'm just glad the deputy hesitated with his gun, it seems like he was less willing to throw us to the wolves as his boss was."

Willow nodded and gave a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Perhaps. He still went along with it and push comes to shove, he'll do whatever it takes to ensure he isn't branded a freak like the rest of us."

They drove the rest of the way in a somber silence.

  
***

  
The Outlaws sat in the tool shed just outside the churchyard in silence. Dawn and Faith was asleep while Willow and Tara were in their books.

"I'm telling you baby, something is weird with that Mare's Kiss goo. I saw it under the bandage of that guy that Dawn smacked around and it reminded me of something. It wasn't blood, it was just... wrong."

Tara nodded, tiredly. She knew to trust Willow's instincts when it came to researchy stuff but she was beyond exhausted.

"I believe you, sweetie. I really do. I just need to rest so is it okay if I lay down for a bit and you can continue digging into the books? I doubt anyone would find us here tonight anyway."

Willow nodded but barely looked up as Tara tried to set up a makeshift bed in the crowded shed.

She kept reading for another hour before going to sleep for the next three. When she woke up, only Faith was up and pacing nervously.

"Finally Red, I'm going stir-crazy here. Are we ready to move out now?"

Willow shook her head tiredly. Dawn and Tara were still in deep sleep, they needed the rest as they weren't as used to almost a decade worth of nocturnal activities like Willow was.

"No, I'm still stuck on the black goo from the man who grabbed Dawnie. It was like mixed with his blood and all gooey but also like something else, something evil."

Faith looked at her like she was an idiot.

"You mean like that Caleb tool? He had almost no blood, only black goo that tried to put him back together. It smelled like rot, ash and chalk."

Willow buried her face into her hands and mumbled something that Faith asked her to repeat.

"I just said that you really should be part of more research sessions. I spent hours on this last night and got nowhere and you figured it out immediately."

Faith lit a smoke and presented a smug grin.

"Yeah but I needed my beauty sleep. Besides, if I do all the booky stuff what would you do with the rest of your life?"

Dawn stirred and took a deep breath before frowning.

"She'd probably spend all that effort on pleasuring Tara for the rest of their lives. Also, put that thing out, we're in a small unventilated space."

Faith shrugged.

"I solved the problem, I get the reward. You could provide a different type of reward but you said you never want an audience for that."

Dawn conceded and gave her girlfriend a kiss to start the day before Willow butted in.

"Actually, that only explain that it's dark magic residue. We still need to find out where it comes from."

This time it was Tara that intervened, the discussion clearly having roused her as well.

"I think I know what it might be, sweetie." She took out the heavy tome she had used as a pillow and handed it to Willow. "This is what I got after the dinner. It's called 'The Librum of Vaesen' by Emerentia Linnaeus, the youngest sister of famous natural scientist Carl Linnaeus. My mom had left it for me in her will and I hid it in a bank deposit box before my dad could take it away. However, I didn't get the chance to pick it up after graduation so I had to leave it until now. I was planning to go through it last night before fatigue claimed me but please, take a look at the entry for the 'Mare'."

Willow opened the book and quickly found the entry in question, reading the introduction loudly for the group: "During my journey along the forested banks of the Coquille River, towards the roots of Coos Mountain, we came upon a particularly fearful village. As we spent the night at Mrs. Sherwood's mansion, the maids and farmhands of Charleston told of a dark witch among the Coquille tribe. Those who did not put horsehair in their hymnbook at night found themselves breathless and are ridden upon the rooster’s crow. Maids in the village spoke with particular regret of Eric, the unmarried farmhand, who like the stallions in their stall had wasted away to skin and bones. Having put these stories into writing, my partner and I decided to head out into the marsh to seek the truth about the mare of the Coquille River. From the notes of Emerentia Linnaeus, July 5th 1732."

Dawn scratched her neck and started to stretch awkwardly. "Well, it fits the region, makes the Mare's Kiss way older than we thought. Older than the country, even."

Willow nodded. "He continues to explain that Mares are women who unknowingly shapeshift into nightmarish vaesen. The victims are possessed by deceased, unmarried women who seek revenge on the living, or long to see a beloved in the afterlife. There is also talk of a curse passed down from the mother who tried to relieve the pain of childbirth through black magic. At night, the afflicted woman turns into an oily mist that can pass through even the smallest knothole. After taking physical form she crawls onto the chest of the sleeping and squeezes the air and vitality out of them. The victim suffers terrible nightmares, sweats profusely and struggles to breathe. The mare sometimes rides horses as well, who wake in their stall foaming with sweat and with marelocks in their mane. In the morning, the mare returns home and resumes human form."

Tara looked pale. "So, uh, it's a human by day who might go missing for many nights?"

Willow nodded. "If this is true, it sure seems like it."

Tara stood up, gathering her things. "We need to go to the public records building. I need to look up a couple of things that might actually explain what is going on."

  
***

  
They moved to the public records building by using alleys and small roads only to find that it wouldn't be opening for another three hours. Unwilling to be spotted by any would-be vigilante, Willow cast a small incantation on a ground-floor window and they climbed in after it opened.

Tara directed Willow to find the names of those who had died from the Mare's Kiss and then moved to the birth record registry and swiftly skimmed through the documents until she found what she was looking for. "Got them!"

The others moved up next to her to check her bounty.

"Baby, why did you need your and Donny's birth certificates?"

Tara put them down on the table in front of her and pointed towards the field marked 'Name of Parents' and 'Status of Parents'.

"My dad never married my mom. See, she took his name after Donny's birth. Did you get the names of those who have died of the Kiss?"

Willow nodded and handed her a stack of names and Tara quickly thumbed through them.

"Oh no. No no no no. This can't be true."

Willow moved up to her and put her arm across Tara's shoulders.

"What is it, weren't you right?"

Tara looked at the stack of names in front of her and sighed.

"No, I was wrong. I know who's currently spreading the Mare's Kiss. It's my mom. Fiona Maclay is cursed, my dad was right."

Dawnie got a sense of deja vú as she glanced over the stack. "Err, I hate to ask again but don't you mean that it was your mom. She's been dead for years, right?"

Tara turned to them with a devastated look.

"No, she's still alive. My mother is still alive. And she is killing those who wronged her when she was alive."

  
***

  
They had returned to the shed and returned to the books. The road snacks they had bought yesterday was repurposed to breakfast food as they kept going despite the despair that was overtaking the oldest of the group.

"Baby, I just don't get it. If she's alive and killing those who wronged them, why is, well, your dad still alive?"

Tara shrugged noncommittally. "I think she's been working her way up the revenge ladder. Ever since we started heading north, the killings have increased in frequency as if she knew were we coming. The names you found have been pretty much everyone in my dad's social circles. Church leaders, old doctor Rivers, political leaders, his drinking buddies. Everyone who wronged her other than my father himself."

"But what about Limpdick Hick?" Dawn interrupted.

"He threatened us yesterday and I think mom made a last-minute addition to her list of revenge-ees."

Dawn contemplated the implications of this. "If it weren't so terrible, she'd be pretty useful to keep around. I mean, a vengeful spirit taking down everyone who ever wronged Tara, what could go wrong there?"

Willow looked beyond the pale and Faith understood why. "Shieldy, think about it. How about someone who insulted her the first chance she got and disparaged her private life and insecurities? Or how about a partner who used magic to control her? Or what about the teen who went behind her back to perform dark magic to resurrect the teen's mother despite promising not to do so?"

Dawn didn't need any clarification. They needed a solution and they needed one fast.

  
***

  
Faith looked at the witches as they set up the small shed from the sketches in Willow's old Book of Shadows.

"Are you girls sure this spell will work?"

Willow looked at her with a confident smile. "I'm sure of it. We used this one in the past when Buffy and Riley kept doing the nasty so much that they almost killed themselves and an entire frat house worth of partygoers."

Faith laughed as Dawn frowned. "Hey, hard to say but I gotta give some props to your sis, Shieldy. Wicked way to perform an accidental massacre."

Willow and Tara sat down outside the drawn-up pentagram, motioning to the others to join them to complete it.

"Give us your hands, we need to form a circle."

They all took their places and Tara led the chant.

_"Mother of the past_   
_Spirit of Fiona_   
_Be guided by our light_   
_Come forth and be known to us_   
_We implore you, be still_   
_Find it in your heart_   
_To give forgiveness to those that deserve none_   
_To leave these lands_   
_Transform your pain_   
_Release your past_   
_And find passage to the Summerlands"_

An oily mist formed inside the circle and soon achieved material form. A nightmarish parody of the woman that Willow had seen when the First Evil used the form to terrorize Tara appeared in front of them. The Mare was thin to the point of starvation, her filthy hair hanging down her dilapidated body which was completely naked other than a ragged skirt that was held up with a belt made out of human skin treated into leather. In the belt several trophies hung, such as a skull, some rings, a necklace and what looked like a rib. Her back sported raven wings, far too weak to offer any flight, and her thin arms ended in sharp talons.

__

"Taaaaaa-ra. I have miiiiii-ssed you. Tooooo bad that our reeee-union was iiint-iiiiiint-iiiinterrrrupted."

Tara held her tongue to avoid enraging the tormented spirit of her mother, letting Willow handle the spell as she was too distraught to see her mother like that.

"I agree, mrs Maclay. However, I believe you have been cursed by the actions of your mother."

The horrible form nodded, eagerly.

"Iiiiin-deed, I was. Daaaaark magics she uuuused, used to give biiii-rth to me."

Willow offered a sympathetic nod.

"And I believe that you have done enough for your family now, that it is time for you to pass to the Summerlands. Would you accept our aid in finishing that journey, mrs Maclay?"

"Fiiiiiii-ona. I am Fiona. And I wiiiiii-ll, if my dearest Taaaaaa-ra wish for it to beeeee."

Tara was forced to interact now. She slowly moved her gaze upwards from the ground, carefully observing the features in front of her to fully realize that it is barely more her mother than if it had been a vampire. She was being tormented every moment of her existence and she needed to be freed. She looked her mother in the eyes, determined to do this for her.

"I-I wish it, m-mother. I love you more than you could ever understand and I hate to see you suffer this way. My father forced it upon you in life, you should be freed in death if nothing else."

"Theeeeeeeen I will comply. I giiiiii-ve you until the wiiii-tching hour come to seeeeet me free. If not, Dooooo-nald dies. In pain."

Dawn felt she had to intervene while there was still time.

"How about Lim-, er Andrew Carpenter? Will you let him live, despite his complete lack of coolness?"

"Heee is already deeeee-ad. Fiiiiii-ve hours ago."

Dawn nodded and found herself that she didn't really care that much. And that worried her. Every time it happened, she felt less bad about it and she was afraid she'd become so jaded she wouldn't even try to care anymore.

  
***

  
"So, why am I the only one digging up your mum's grave, T?"

Tara shrugged with a smirk, trying to remain calm despite the fact that it was already dark and the deadline the Mare had provided her was approaching fast.

"Willow's keeping the Ma-... keeping mom busy and Dawnie stands guard by the entrance in case the locals get mad. And I have to prepare this urn and make it completely sealed by both magical and physical means."

Faith groaned but continued to dig, the logic was sound after all but she felt like she had to put up a token protest.

"So, all you need to do is let her enter the urn, seal it for good and then we bury her? That's the only way to give her peace?"

Tara hesitated and glanced down into the open grave.

"Well, there is another way. If we could force my father to actually marry her AND go through with it, it'd sate her lust for vengeance for a while. Maybe."

Faith chuckled as she continued. "Yeah, as wicked it'd be to see the old bastard suffer that, I'd hate for your mum to have to suffer any longer. Digging it is!"

She continued to dig for another minute until they heard someone running towards them. Tara put down the urn carefully while Faith jumped out of the open grave and pulled out a stake.

"Oh, it's Dawnie. What's going on, hun?"

Dawnie stopped and turned on a dime as she reached the pair and activated both ends of her spear.

"Three rotten black wolves headed this way over there!"

She pointed and three of the largest mutts they had ever seen were charging at them, teeth bare and snarling.

"Whaddya think, T? Hellhounds? Rabid wolfhounds?"

Dawn shook her head.

"No. These are Church Grims. I read about them in the Vaesen book while you two were setting up the mom-and-daughter chat."

Faith growled. This city sure had a bunch of monsters that avoided the Hellmouth. So much for the enemy you know.

"Okay, how do we kill them then? Stake through the brain?"

Dawn prepared her barriers and adopted a defensive stance.

"They're somewhere close to the church in order to guard it. We must've offended it somehow so we need to locate their carcasses and burn then, quickly."

Tara did a quick chant and a small faerie fire appeared in front of her. "Guide Dawn to the dog carcasses in the church."

The small spirit made a blinking sound that somehow they all knew was in the affirmative and went off to guide the young warrior. Faith pulled out her zippo lighter and tossed it towards her while she was already on her way.

Tara started to chant to be able to throw up a reflective barrier at a moments' notice. "We'll keep these dogs busy, you focus on ending this threat."

Faith waited for the first Grim to come to start its leap before she went for the attack, pouncing at the large black dog to intercept it mid-air.

  
***

  
Dawn ran fast. She's always been a quick girl, long legs and hungry vampires have made sure of that, but with the last two years in intense training and fighting against evil she has reached a top speed that would've given her a decent spot in the track team at Sunnydale High. But then things happen, Hellmouths rip apart your principal and swallow the school and city whole and you just gotta adapt.

But no matter how fast she was, the faerie fire in front of her was a lot fast. If the graveyard hadn't been so small, she's sure she would've lost it. As it was, she heard the sounds rapidly fading away in the back and hoped that they hadn't noticed Willow. If Willow couldn't distract Fiona Maclay's tormented visage it might try to renege on their deal and the entire settling would be for nothing.

It didn't take long until the faerie fire came to a full stop just next to a small crevice inside a wall just beneath the part where the church tower connected to the main building. Inside she saw three piles of skeletons, each covered in a filthy blanked adorned with a cross.

She reached into the crevice and lit each blanket, one at a time, before pulling back. As soon as all three were alight the building started to shake and a putrid smell, worse than any other she had experienced before, spread over the graveyard.

She ran back towards the group to help finish the fight but just as she was about to skewer one of the dogs in process of attempting to make her girlfriend a midnight snack, they melted away into mist.

"Wow Shieldy, nice job."

Tara's face lit up despite the fear and tiredness that had left their marks.

"Yeah Dawnie, n-nice job. Seems like we can get this done without leaving too many traces behind."

Both Faith and Dawn stared at her in frustration. If it's one thing they've learned since finding out about the supernatural part of the universe is that jinxes like that always comes back to bite them in the ass.

And, as if on que, the church cracked in two with an enormous bang, separating the tower from the rest of the building.

Willow ran out, Fiona in tow, and just stared at the trio and the church, alternating between the two.

"I go out to have one little conversation with what is the closest I'll ever be to a mother-in-law and what do I get? My girlfriend and my best friends blow up a church and alert the entire town to where we are."

"Moooooo-ther-in-law? Yooou got some plaaaaa-ns for my Taaaaa-ra then?"

Willow thought she could almost see the same crooked smile on the Mare that Tara used to light Willow's life a beacon of joy. It was weird and fascinating that some aspects of Fiona still showed in her cursed form.

"Alright mom, the urn is sealed and the grave is dug. Will you honor your part of the deal?"

"Wiiiiii-ll you, my Taaaaa-ra?"

Tara offered a sad smile.

"I am sorry you had to suffer like this for so long, at all even. I'm happy to have met you again and that you've met my Willow but there's nothing I wish more right now than for you to have your promised place in the Summerlands."

The Mare bowed her head in gratitude.

"Thaaaa-t is enough. Thaaaaa-nk you, my Taaaaa-ra. I will always love you."

The Mare turned into it's gaseous form and entered the urn, letting Tara seal it and gently lower it into the grave. As Faith and Dawn started to quickly fill the grave again, Willow heard Tara whisper something towards the urn and then sat down.

"Baby, what happened? I heard fighting but didn't dare accidentally offending your mother so I remained."

Dawn took a break in the shoveling and turned to Willow. "We were attacked by Church Grims. I think they offended to our unauthorized burial and considered it desecration of holy ground which I think it technically is. After I destroyed the carcasses it seems Imighthaveblewupthechurchwiththeritual."

Faith laughed loudly as she continued her work. "Shieldy, I'm damn proud of you. This parish is tainted and considering who has to repair it, I'm just miffed you didn't blow the entire church to Alaska."

They all worked for the last stretch to return all the gravedirt, finishing it with a few minutes to spare. As they did, the stench that covered the area since the burning of the Grims dissipated. After collecting their bags and returning them to the truck hidden behind the shed, a large number of vehicles arrived at the entrance of the graveyard. At least three dozen townies poured out of the small armada. Not only sheriff Carpenter and his deputy but also doctor Rivers, the elder and younger Maclay and most of the earlier mob. More of them had guns this time, ranging from revolvers to hunting rifles. They held back though, enough of them remembering last night's magical mishaps, and a group consisting of the Maclays, Rivers and the law enforcement moved towards the four outsiders.

"Sis, you have no idea how much trouble you're in now."

She looked at him, incredulously.

"Oh, like finding out I'm a bastard? Because I did, today. And I'm okay with that since I also found out that you're a bastard too. I mean, I always knew but now it's even literal."

Donny turned to his father, confused and offended. "Dad, what the hell is this bitch talking about?"

Her father said nothing, he already saw the disturbed dirt on Fiona's grave.

"I'm talking about how our oh-so-holy father never married mom. Check your birth certificate, it's all there. And then ask our father how mom didn't die five years ago but was cursed to remain as the Mare by his actions. He let her die, ill and unmarried, by his own neglect and his vile hatred led to her being cursed to take revenge on all those who had offended her. As such, our dad caused the latest streak of the Mare's Kiss."

The sheriff glared at her as if she was insane but then turned to the doctor.

"So when my brother died today, doctor Rivers, Maclay could've prevented it? He caused all this?"

Dawn stepped up, ensuring they all recognized her from before. "Nope. As soon as the black appeared, he was dead. And it appeared because he did threaten Fiona Maclay's daughter. But be glad because tonight she was planning on ending Donald senior himself but we were the good girls and ended it by burying her properly, by her own will. She'll not return again."

Finally, the Maclay patriarch intervened. "But, what of the holy guardian spirits? They should've protected the graves here from any interference."

Faith grinned. "Oh, the Church Grims? Yeah, they're not guardian spirits, they were cursed animals summoned by some ugly mojo. And they're gone, for good. Shieldy burned their carcasses wicked properly."

The doctor and Donald Sr glanced at each other nervously while Donny moved up to a smugly grinning Dawn, slapping her in the face. He didn't get the chance to follow it up as Faith burst into action, delivering a jumping kick towards his chest that sent him flying fifteen yards into a wide grave marker. The crack of his ribs was heard all the way to the mob by the entrance.

"Shieldy, you okay?" Dawnie nodded in the affirmative, noting a small gash on her cheek. "Now, the only reason dirtbag junior there is still breathing is because _I held back_. If anyone else tries something to my girl, or my friends, you'll be picking pieces of your skull from the graveyard walls. Understood?"

The small group stared at her, stunned, but some of the mob started to raise their weapons in response.

Dawn noticed and used the open wound to gather enough blood to blink away, bringing Willow with her. The witch was dizzy with the swift action but Dawn activated both ends of her spear and started disarming the locals that were carrying guns. Those that were too far away soon found themselves disarmed and hovering a yard above the ground as both Tara and Willow moved to keep them from being a threat. Faith moved quickly and removed the weapons from both members of the Sheriff's office and threw them as far as she could into the darkness.

"Now, have we made ourselves clear? We're going to leave this sad excuse for a town and I don't want any the boys following us, got it?" She knew she was talking while the rest of the group were still mopping up the mob, most who had dropped their weaponry and fled the area on foot and in vehicles.

The doctor spat on the ground, the elder Maclay said and did nothing while the two sheriffs nodded.

"Good." She turned to the witches and her girlfriend. "Alright, let them go. We got free passage and I'm pretty sick of this inbred hickapalooza. Let's move.

Willow met Tara's eyes and they both disengaged, dropping a couple of captured townies each to the ground. Willow ran up to embrace Tara and after a few seconds where they just stood there in silence, relaxing into each others' familiar warmth, they started to move towards the truck.

"S-sweetie, this wasn't what I wanted. I wanted to say goodbye to my mom and then never come back. I didn't want the fights, the curses, the threats or the hate. Maybe I should've waited to come here, to let things fall into distant memory first."

Willow kissed her on top of Tara's head and sighed.

"I know baby. But, this day will die tonight, like all others. Why should you have to wait when there's nothing to wait for? You don't need to think of how lonely you were when you grew up here, remember instead how you were strong, dreamt of a future away from here and claimed that dream. That's what I do when I feel down. I won't cry for my solitude that I had, I instead turn over to see you and when I sleep, I dream of you. When you're gone, I hope that you will come to knock on my door and it makes me remember that when I'm at my worst, tomorrow may be a better day because you and Dawnie and Faith are there."

Tara kissed her as they climbed into the back seats of the truck.

"Sweetie, I _know_ tomorrow is a better day."

As they reached the bridge south of the town they paused by the motel to return the keys to their rooms. When they left the manager's office they saw the tower to the church collapse in the distance and Willow couldn't help herself from laughing, despite Dawn's consternation of her accidental vandalism.


	4. May 3, 2003. San Francisco, California

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Punny Bar, a Dog's Day and Going South

_8:31 PM_   
_Harvey's Milk Bar_   
_San Francisco, California_

"I must say T, when you said we were going to the Castro district I was kind of wigged about it but I must say I've been pleasantly surprised so far."

Dawn turned to her as they waited for the bouncer to hurry the line along. They were dressed in brisk summer clothing after a day's sightseeing and restocking for their travels back down the Pacific coast. They had gotten out of Oregon without any further incidents and according to a local radio channel the destruction of the Coquille church was blamed on shoddy maintenance and misappropriation of maintenance funds by the groundskeeper. They all knew that Donald Maclay was being used as a fall guy for the corrupted community yet the time had long passed when they would do something about it. Even Tara, who still had some sense of loyalty to her father before the came back to her hometown, wanted nothing to do with it, the last affections of her father and brother gone as soon as she realized their active involvement of the Mare's Kiss illness.

"Why's that, Fay? I loved seeing all these famous landmarks, it's like my official inclusion tour into lesbiandom. Lesbdom. Lesbonism. The Gaytastic Community of Lesbians!"

The final exclamation was shrieked maybe a bit too loud and Willow cringed slightly.

"Dawnie, remember that Faith's been more comfortable with her sexuality longer than the rest of us. We only have our history in a podunk one-Starbuck city where we really had no community at all to connect to, only select friends and family. I completely understand why this all may seem both pretentious and a bit... overdone. I mean, I love it. I've been wanting to go here for years now but y'know, Sunnydale. Hellmouth. Constantly approaching doom."

Tara nodded in agreement but Faith didn't.

"Actually, that's not completely correct Red. It's nothing about the Castro district itself, it's more that I've never been good with assigning labels to myself. Or, well, positive labels. When I first tried I managed to turn the Slayer label into something... wrong. I've never seen myself as gay, straight, bi or pan. I'm Faith, the superpowered hot chick that knows what she likes and tried to take it and, if allowed to, keep it!"

She pulled Dawn close to her and kissed her passionately, prompting a giggle from the younger girl.

"Faithy, you have to be careful with such open statements of affection. If someone heard you it might tarnish your reputation as the hardass Slaying machine that leave dust and babes in the wind!"

Tara flashed a smile to punctuate her taunt as they moved further up the line.

"But I'm glad you've enjoyed yourself, all of you. I know it was a bit of a hassle to find lodging and getting here on our way south but just trust me when I say it's worth it. You see, I found out a thing about this club that I think you'll enjoy."

The others looked at her curiously as they moved up to the front of the line. The bouncer looked at the group and were about to let them in when Tara whispered something to him. He nodded, checked his list, and then handed her four lanyards and waved her in.

"Baby, what did you tell him?"

Tara handed them a lanyard each and pointed towards the VIP area.

"I told them we're with the band!"

  
***

  
They sat down in an upscale area, relatively speaking, and watched as the staff started setting up the instruments for today's live performance. Faith's keen eyes had seen the band logo on one of the cases but kept her silence, not wanting to ruin Tara's surprise. Dawn, on the other hand, had a lot harder time to stay patient and almost bounced in her seat as she waited for the big reveal.

"Come oooooon Tara, we've waited long enough. Who's playing tonight? Is it anyone we know?"

"I may have met you all once or twice."

Dawn turned around, shrieked, and jumped up to hug the newcomer. Tara smiled and Faith grinned widely as she saw Willow's eyes grow so wide it looked like they'd try to make a run for it to escape the confines of her skull.

"Oz! My God, I thought you were-"

"In Nepal? I was. I went back but my marriage fell through and Devon wanted a reunion of the Dingos so I'm reunioning."

Willow glanced at Tara who nodded her approval and then stood up and gave her ex a deep hug.

"I had no idea! You were getting married? And how didya you know we were coming anyway?"

"Your girl here called me two days ago. She told me you were passing through the area and that she'd love meet so here we are, meeting."

Tara smiled and made space on the couch for the musician.

"I saw a poster thursday morning as we were filling up the gas. I called the booking number and took a chance. I'd hate for us to miss the chance to meet up before we leave California."

Oz nodded slightly, never letting go of his stoic appearance.

"I must say, when my ex's girlfriend call and say she, said ex, a woman who tried to kill said ex and said ex best friend's younger sister were on the road I was quite perplexed. I almost reached the surprised level but when she informed me you were not, in fact, starting a mariachi cover band of the Cardigans I knew the world was still quite predictable."

Faith leaned forward, uncharacteristically. "So, Wolfboy, no hard feelings then?"

He shrugged. "Past is the past. If we're to be technical, I tried to kill both Tara and Willow when I came back a year after graduation. Wasn't even at night so got no better excuse than you."

"Which is why I wanted this to happen. I knew you were not in a good place when we last met, Oz, but I also know how important you were, and still are, to the most important person in my life. Thing is we're headed south and then leaving California, possibly for good, to find a place where we can start our new lives and I feel it's only right we try to have a potential last meeting without anyone trying to kill or slay another. Sounds good?"

Willow shrugged with a grin. "It depends, are you going to try to make me sing again? Because if that's the case there's going to be some definitive killing of a huge number of poor eardrums. It'll be known as the Castro Eardrum Massacre of Fog City!"

Oz arched half of an eyebrow. "That's not what I heard when we jammed in private that summer before college." Willow glared at him as if struck. "Which I promised never to speak of again. To change the subject, I'm glad you got out of the Sunnydale Crater Bay disaster. Buffy responsible for that one?"

Faith laughed mockingly. "As if. She was in charge of our forces, yeah, but it was the girls here who planned the attack and tore a wicked hole through the ground and made the Hellmouth choke on the empty city. B's gone now to lead all the new baby Slayers into, err, slayerdom?"

Oz smirked. "Not surprised you'd grow strong enough to do that, Will. How come Dawn's not with her mom and sister?"

Dawn got a bit miffed at being talked about, instead of with, and interrupted to answer the question herself.

"I'm emancipated. Buffy's no caretaker and ever since mom died two years ago she'd been having a hard time adapting to adulting. Dying for a summer didn't make the matters easier, either!"

"So she's not into the bad boy busting business anymore? Because I actually got a tip for you all then if that's the case. I mean, if you're already heading south?

And without them even realizing it, they got back in action. Oz briefed them on a small town having troubles in Arizona and they started working out travel schedule, possible causes, plans of approach and equipment supplies. They were working like a well-oiled machine, as if they had never left Sunnydale. As much as they loved to be free to choose what to do with their lives; they were still marked by the supernatural. You didn't choose the Underworld, the Underworld chose you.

Oz eventually returned to his band and they played their set while the group finished their plans and partied the rest of the evening away, ending in tearful goodbyes for Willow and Dawn. They went to their rooms late that morning, knowing that in a few they'd already be on the road again.


	5. May 4, 2003. Pacifica, California

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gasholes, Dutch Lesbians and Jailbreak

_7:52 PM_   
_Randy's Gashole_   
_Outskirts of Pacifica, California_

"Fay, you got everything you need?"

"Yeah Shieldy, got my beer, smokes and beef jerky. You got your snacks?"

"Yeah, got my chocolates and educated Pepper. Will, you got everything you looked for?"

"Okay, Tare wanted some gas water and fruity snacks and I got the receipt from the pump. Still got my snacks from the last stop because _some_ of us know how to plan ahead."

"Is that so? Then who'll be driving the next leg of the trip?"

"That's you Faith, you know that."

"Nope, not anymore Red. You'll be pulling a double shift, it's the smug tax. And repayment for not letting us both take the back seat when Tara drove this leg."

"If I don't split you up now and then you'd fog up the windows when we were driving and that much snuggling is just a road hazard!"

"Well yeah Will, that's the fun part of it!"

"Only as long as you don't have to listen to it, or see it through the rear mirror."

"Yeah right, Red. I happen to remember how deep you and T 'slept' the night we left Oregon."

"Oh, that reminds me. We need wet napkins. For, err, no real reason. Truth!"

"That'll be 52 dollars and 12 cents."

"Here's 60, you can keep the change if we could borrow the staff restroom before we move on."

"Uhhh, sure. Be quick about it though, my boss will arrive in fifteen minutes and he wouldn't approve."

"Wicked! I'll be quick and clean, you're a champ."

  
***

  
Faith kept her promise and returned from the staff bathroom to see Dawn holding Willow back from bashing the clerk's head in with her baton while yelling hysterically for Tara. "What the shit?" She sprinted up and pulled Willow away, as gently as she could, from Dawn and the clerk.

"Fay! The cops were here and they took Tara while we were shopping for supplies."

Faith's eyes darkened and she turned towards the clerk. "And why is this tool on the chopping block?"

Willow breathed heavily, trying to regain control. "He refuse to let me see the CCTVs to see where they if they're county or local."

Faith pulled out her go-to throwing dagger and palmed it.

"Okay, time to earn that extra change a bit more. You let Red here see the tape and then we leave, okay?"

He stuttered, frozen in fear. "I-I can't."

The dagger flew through the air and got stuck in the wall next to the clerk's temple.

"I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you that you only had one lie. Now, I'll ask again, why don't you let Red do it? You can claim we forced you, because we are, but we will be seeing that tape one way or another."

He considered his options for a moment and then nodded rapidly.

A few minutes later they had both seen the recording in question and removed the tape that proved their intimidation. Faith handed another 20 to the guy and put her index finger to her lips and he nodded.

"So, uh, did you see that convex mirror in the recording, Will?"

The witch was working with a purpose, planning different ways to break Tara out of jail with as little backlash as possible.

"Err, no. Did I miss something?"

"The two cops. They had no reflections."

"Shit. D, that's hi-prio information! We gotta move fast!"

The clerk faked a cough. "You girls are new here, right? Well, those cops are infamous. They're the night patrol and once they grab someone, that person is gone. I'm very sorry. They usually grab tourists and people just passing through. There's nothing to you can do to them."

Faith laughed and pulled out a stake from her jacket.

"Those cops are reckless vamps and if there's something I can deal with it's vamps. I'll just take one of these maps and we'll make sure our friend is okay and we'll make sure this night patrol won't bother anyone again."

They gathered their purchased supplies and moved towards the truck that remained where they had left it with Tara.

"So, Red, I take it you got five different plans already. Any favorite?"

Dawn got behind the wheel and started the truck as Willow leaned up from the back seat.

"I got one but you won't like it, Faith. We need you to play bait."

"Does it involve me going up against the vampire boys?"

"Yeah, but you'll be unarmed. And we need to check in at a motel with internet access."

Faith grinned. "I'm always armed Red, you know that. It's time to get back to the basics and dust ourselves some vamps."

  
***

  
"Fay, please, I really don't like this plan."

Willow's heart ached when she saw her two best friends embraced in desperation, their foreheads touching as if they'd collapse without the support. But, she knew this was the best plan they had if they wanted Tara back and everyone home without the entire California law enforcements out looking for the, not to mention the Demon Research Initiative or the Watcher's Council.

"I know Shieldy, but you know I'll ace this. We got a plan. I don't know how many they are but I wanna find out. So, when they book me I'll land on my feet and help Tara sack them all."

"Faith, can you go get your passport. I need a picture for the fake warrant I'll put into the system."

"Wait, you're creating a paper trail? Fay'll be wanted again, we'd have to go on the run!"

Willow smiled reassuringly as Faith moved towards the bag with their travel and legal documents.

"Dawnie, I'd never do something like that. I'm putting up a fake warrant for a fake identity with Faith's face. I've also put in a script into their database, these small-town cops are really bad with IT security, that'll wipe the warrant tomorrow morning at six."

"How do you know Tara is still okay? Haven't put her into the system?"

Willow actually looked hopeful for the first time since Tara disappeared.

"Well, the night shift overlap with the evening shift for another ninety minutes. During that time the fangy cops can't go all ARR GRR on the prisoners without getting too much attention. I also noticed that Tara hasn't been put into the system, meaning they have planned to make her disappear completely. I bet they looked up her name and found she is technically homeless right now and since she was by herself at the truck they think she's all alone. They'll never see Faith coming."

"But won't the vampires sense that Faith is a Slayer? Can't she use that necklace of yours that's warded against vampire senses?"

Willow shook her head, sadly. "That's unfortunately a risk we'll have to take. The wards on the crystal are bound to my soul only, for Faith it'd just be a pretty, if unwieldy, accessory. Besides, I doubt they'd let her keep it when they book her anyway."

"Hey Red, since when are you dutch?" Faith held up Willow's passport to Dawn as she handed her own to Willow for the computer work.

Willow needed a moments to comprehend the statement before she remembered. She started typing the relevant information into the database as she explained.

"Oh that. Yeah, my dad's dutch and my parents put in the paperwork for dual citizenship when I was born. My grandparents Jacob and Sara Rosenberg used to live in Amsterdam up until 1941. He used to run a small grocery store until the germans invaded. He took his wife and fled to England, then the US, but kept his dutch nationality and by law in the Netherlands you're allowed to become a citizen at birth if at least one of your parents is one. Ergo, dual citizenship."

"Neato! That mean you're a witch who's from the Nether Lands who's been travelling the Nether World. And here I thought those skyclad rituals was the dirtiest thing you girls did around others."

Willow groaned as the other two laughed. She was not going to tell them when she summoned a demon seer from the Nether Regions for advice, that's for sure.

  
***

  
Tara looked up, her body tense and shaking. She was cold, the cops who arrested her didn't let her grab her coat or any papers from the truck to reach the others. She was afraid of where the others were. 'Were they arrested as well? Killed? Do they know where I am? Are they even looking for me or do they think I'm dead already? No, that's not gonna happen. They must know I'm alive, Willow would've known otherwise. And they must know where I am or she'd faerie fire to find me and since she hasn't she must know where I am. It's only a matter of time.'

She was drained. She knew the cops who brought her in were vampires, they were cold to the touch and their auras were purely demonic. The question was if they were going to keep her as livestock or just drain her completely. And if they were killing or turning her, why haven't they done so already?

She heard a struggle outside the entrance to the otherwise empty jail cells and soon she saw Faith being dragged in by a pair of the vampiric officers. She struggled, but it was obviously for show as only two cops wouldn't be able to restrain her. She was undercover and Tara had to act as such.

"Here you go, bitch. You got a new cellmate, one 'Hope Amour' is gonna be your bunk buddy for the night."

Tara restrained a giggle. Willow had far too much fun with the fake ID, that much was obvious, and she had gambled correctly that the cops weren't smart enough to get the reference.

"Now you two are gonna stew in here for a few minutes, there's going to be a change of the guard and then we'll going to come back to go over tonight's schedule."

Faith let herself get thrown into the cell as Tara backed to the wall. The pair kept their distance as they waited for the cops left the cell block.

"You okay T?" The witch nodded. "Good. As you probably figured, we're going to go dust-happy on these schmucks. As they said, soon the evening shift will end and then all the remaining cops will be vampires. It's those two you saw, another patrol car that's currently on its' way back here, the night jailor and the front desk patrolman. However, in about..." She did a quick headcount. "Now there should be a stake thrown through that window over there."

As if on que, the barred but opened window presented a stake and Tara swiftly sent it to Faith with a quick spell.

"I'm sorry Faithy, I'm kinda spent. Been keeping my detection wards up so they wouldn't accidently notice I'm a magic user. I'm not gonna be a lot useful when they get here, I haven't slept since over 24 hours ago. I had planned to do it after the stop but, well, you know?"

"That's no worry, T. Red and Shieldy are in the truck outside for a quick getaway and if we take more than fifteen minutes I got orders for us to get below that bench there while they make a new exit for us."

Tara presented a smile as gratitude and moved back into the cell as she heard the doors reopen.

All the vampires that Faith had detected entered the cellblock, the front desk patrolman excepted who acted as a lookout in case any late night visitors dropped by. The cops moved towards the cell and Faith backed away a foot, waiting for them to open.

They all vamped out as on command as the cell door slides open with an ugly grinding noise. Before they could start their expected taunt tirade Tara opened the fight with a telekinetic move, throwing one of the metal chairs from outside the cell and hitting the jailor in the back of his head. As the others turned to see who had ambushed them, Faith jumped into the fray.

And she let loose the inner Slayer.

She kicked one of the cops into the wall and followed up with staking another who still had his back to her. The apparent leader of the group moved to grab her but his partner instead rushed into the cell, more hungry than strategic. The prone cop moved to get up but was used as a springboard to dislodge her from the leader and she flipped, backwards, and quickly broke both his shins as he turned around to face her. He collapsed to the ground and she stepped over him to dust the last vampire remaining uninjured outside of the cell.

Tara's attacker tried to grab her arms but she kneed his groin and followed it up by running an elbow into his temple. He tried to recover but she put her palms over his ears and whispered a quick spell.

_"Incendere."_

The inside of the vampire's skull suddenly caught on fire and she released her hold and looked him in the eyes as he was consumed first by the flames and then by the dust. She looked up as the cellblock's door flung open and the patrolman charged in only to see him get impaled by Faith's thrown stake, dusting him before he even had a chance to comprehend the situation.

Faith turned to the leader who was on the ground, whimpering in pain from his broken legs.

"Now, I'm going to ask you a couple of question, fangboy. You will want to answer them truthfully and trust me, I'll know when you lie. First question, how many are there left of your nest?"

He growled at her. "Go to hell!"

She responded with a quick stomp with her boot and broke his left wrist.

"Sorry, I forgot to tell you that you have no second chances. Now, again, how many are there left of your nest?"

"Just me, nobody but me," he whined.

"Second question, when and from where did you get here?"

"Sunnydale. I used to be a patrolman over there, night shift. Got turned two weeks before the city was evacuated and left only days before the Hellmouth was closed."

Faith smiled and turned to Tara. "Hey, this one is an alumni of Hellmouth U, just like us. I figure the dispersal of the non-aligned demons was a side effect of you and Red plugging up the inferno gullet for good."

The vampire, now back in human form, widened his eyes as he was starting to get the puzzle pieces together and glared at Tara.

"You were part of Buffy's army, weren't you? You're the Guardian Angel and the Dark Slayer? Just my damn luck..."

Faith broke his other wrist and he howled in pain.

"That was for speaking out of turn. Now, I would like for you to apologize to my dear friend Tara here for making her uncomfortable. OH; and for planning to drain her. That's bad too."

Tara had walked up to the pair by now, summoning the thrown stake as she did.

"I-I'm sorry! I really am! I won't do it again, I promise!"

Tara bent down and drove the stake through his heart before handing it back to Faith.

"Thank you, officer."

  
***

  
"So, there's no trace at all of our arrests?"

Willow shook her head as they cuddled in the back seat of the truck. Faith was fast asleep after demanding food and a quicky after slayage and Dawn volunteered to be the driver to let the other three rest.

"Nope, none at all baby. No bodies, no electronic traces, no arrest log and no recordings. We're scot free. Not only that but we got a pretty decent lump of change from the lockers of the vamped cops and from their 'lost and found' for drained victims."

"And why haven't you mentioned before that you're dutch? I mean, I knew that you weren't large with the butch but pretty close I'd say!"

Willow groaned as Dawn giggled from the driver's seat.

"You missed when we realized she was the witch from the Nether Lands who visited the Nether Worlds!"

Willow cringed, she knew what was coming.

"Oh, didn't she tell you when she contacted the seer Lotus from the Nether Region dimension?"

Dawn's resulting laughter managed to do what few other non-hostile sounds had ever done; wake Faith up during post-coital sleeping.


	6. May 24, 2003. Tsaile, Arizona

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Horndogs, Lawyers and the Jewish Inquisition

_I can't believe it. Here we are, in the middle the Navajo Nation, taking a weekend to rest and relax and guess who just HAD to be visiting speakers at Diné College? Seriously, it's a small and respected tribal College but far from their usual circuit but nooo, if they can torment me they'll take every chance they can get._

_The last three weeks had been pretty awesome, too. Faith and Dawnie got their action quota when we continued southward and took out more vampire nests and demon lair from Sunnydale expatriates. Nothing big but enough to keep them from start roof surfing once we hit Interstate 40. Good food and decent rat motels together with us taking the cash stashes from the nests = happy Outlaws._

_So we got her yesterday and decided to take a break. About thirty minutes after putting down the cash for two rooms over the weekend, we met them. Five minutes later, they had negotiated their way to **another** soul crushing dinner later today. Why do I let them do this to me? They didn't even seem happy that I was alive despite the fact that I know they had no clue about me after the Hellmouth._

_And to make it even better, we found out that a huge murder of disgusting ravens seem to circle the town during the night. Nobody is supposed to go past a border they've marked with a foot-high rock wall and yeah we've already appointed ourselves the visiting Scoobies. I called Oz to see if he found out exactly what town the 'troubles' he was talking about was called and yeah, we've accidently hit the jackpot._

_Tara's sleeping like a rock, despite it being past noon. She's gotten real good to catch her Z's whenever possible ever since Pacifica. On one hand I should probably be worried that it shook her so much but on the other hand she seems so happy and content, like nothing could ever touch her while she sleep._

_Well, except me obviously. But if that happens then she won't sleep for much longer but she usually doesn't mind. When it happened in the car the other night Faith actually heard Tara calling me a Horndog so guess what my new official nickname is? Horndog. Way to gimme some dignity._

_Okay, it's better than the Nether Witch they had before. Is it strange I miss just being called 'Red'?_

_Oh yeah, there is wolf howling at night. The manager warned us that the coyotes are pretty loud and numerous around here but I recognized that howl very well. This is werewolf country. You don't sit guard by your boyfriend's cage three nights a month for a year and a half without picking up some ability to recognize the signs._

_Time to wake the sleeping Tarebear. I hate to do this but she did promise to be part of the dinner with my parents. Besides, dinner at the college restaurant? What the heckity heck is that for a reunion dinner?_

_I wonder if I can fake a heart attack? Or maybe there's a Hellmouth here I can sink the city into._

_I've already checked. Closes Hellmouth is in Ohio. Poop on a stick._

  
***

  
"Mom, dad, how _nice_ to see you both again."

"Please, take a seat dear. Nice to meet you again, Tara!" Willow had to give her dad some credit. Ira still made an effort to be polite. She probably could've had some kind of familial relationship with him if it weren't for the anchor called Sheila Rosenberg that's tied around his neck. She decided to give him, at least, a semblance of slack.

"Likewise, mister Rosenberg. I must say, we were very surprised to meet you both out here."

"Yes, well, the Diné College is hosting a small conference for the leading researchers in child psychology and development so we just had to grasp the opportunity to attend while the movers are setting up at our new home in San Francisco."

"Oh, that's where you're living now mom? We were there a weekend just three weeks ago, I had no idea you had even moved out of Sunnydale."

Ira grimaced, he knew what was coming and Sheila didn't disappoint as she started a tirade he had probably heard dozens of time already.

"Well that's what we had to do after that gigantic sinkhole just up and happened to swallow the entire city! If we hadn't been away on a conference when it happened we'd be dead just like all those other poor souls. I mean, what were the odds that we'd be away that day?"

"About 92% if your conference schedule has remained the same since my senior year," Willow muttered under her breath and Tara snorted. It didn't appear like the older Rosenbergs had heard her, however.

"It was a miracle, love. Now, I'm kind of curious. Tara, I seem to recall you having studied art history, correct? If I am not mistaken Native American pre-colonial culture is part of the beginning course, isn't it?"

Willow gaped in shock and Tara took a few seconds to recover from the surprise. Her parents, or one of them at least, had actually paid attention to something during their first meeting. It took Sheila a year to learn Tara's name and that wasn't until her brain got zapped by Glory.

"T-That's correct, mister Rosenberg. I've actually read a bit more about the Navajo art renaissance but I've been unable to find anything here to help me expand my knowledge in the field. All the shops seem to have been gentrified and even the students here are becoming, well, less Navajo and more New-white-o."

The joke fell flat to the elder Rosenbergs but Ira offered a small chuckle as cover for any embarrassment.

"That's not even the worst of it. There's currently a bunch of protests on the other side of the town because they've dug up parts of a graveyard to make space for a local Wal*Mart that's due to service the students in the region. There's been a lot of rabble rousing both ways but this isn't a rich town, the locals have very little to offer against those hotshot lawyers from Wolfram & Hart."

Willow and Tara glanced at each other nervously; they both knew what kind of law firm that was. Fred and Wesley had told some pretty horrifying tales that included human sacrifice, assassination of children, human and inhuman trafficking and asset management for the Olsen twins.

"Yeah dad, I think that you're right. Wolfram & Hart are pretty infamous, an old friend of ours have bumped chests with them a number of times and the work they do, the clients they represent... Let's just say they'd make Exxon look like saints in comparison."

The discussions during the diner continued rather amicably for the first time since Willow had her bat mitzvah. None of them would admit it out loud but they all knew that the biggest reason for that was that Sheila had agreed with Ira to keep quiet as to not make their already terrible relation any worse.

  
***

  
"So Shieldy, why do you think a construction company guarded by corporate goons armed with handguns and batons with extendable stakes?"

Dawn crouched down behind the bushes as she sighed.

"Because they're doing some pretty horrible work. They're not moving any of the graves, they're just digging straight through with a damn excavator."

"Well, there's that. There's also the fact that they're carrying Wolfram & Hart weaponry. I remember the setup from when they hired me to take out Angel. That mean that some pretty big and bad people, and probably other uglies, are involved in this mess."

Dawn had heard the story before so she wasn't surprised. The way she saw it; if Angel didn't have a problem with that then she wouldn't either. She took a quick gander again. About fifteen construction workers were in the process of desecrating the burial grounds while at least six armed men kept guard. None of the people involved in the dig were locals, that was obvious, while the roughly three dozen protestors behind the picket fence obviously were as they chanted rhymes in both English and Navajo.

"Do you think they're responsible for the strange animal behavior? Like, are they luring the werewolves here or causing it some other way?"

"No idea, Shieldy. All I know is that they're bad news and..." She gazed off in the distance. "What's that over there?"

Dawnie moved over to follow her line of sight and realized what she was looking at. About a mile from their position an old western-era guard tower made out of stone but has been kept in good condition, stood on a small hill with a large pyre burning on top of it.

"Wait, another one? There's one in that direction and I saw one on the other side of the town when we first arrived. They were constructed the same way and had lit fires, too."

Faith nodded. "We'll need to see if the Glindas know anything about it. You good to move?"

Dawn looked at her incredulously. "What? We can't leave, those goons are armed and ruining the graves," Faith opened her mouth to interject. "In a non-good way like we did to HELP someone. And, they're protected by EvilCorp Inc. There's only six with weapons, we can take them easily."

Faith tried to hide it but she was worried. She had noticed it bit-by-bit since they left Sunnydale but Dawn was turning reckless, turning dangerous. Turning into her, 1999-era her. And it was scaring the crap out of her. She moved up and put her hands on Dawn's shoulders, forcing the younger girl to look at her.

"Hey D? That's just not a good idea. Not only do they have guns but they're spread out, there's civilians arounds, but I know for a reason that stopping bullets with that barrier shield of yours exhaust you like nothing else."

The younger girl scoffed and tried to wriggle out of the grip.

"DAWN!" The loud use of her name, instead of any of the usual pet names, was something that ensured that Dawn would listen to her.

"Listen to me. You are the best fighter I've seen that's not a veteran Slayer. You've picked up skills and talents faster than almost anyone else I've met and you use tactics in a way I could only dream of. But, you are growing reckless and it scares me. I'm afraid you'll bite off more than you can handle and it takes just one mistake, one accident, and then it's all over."

Dawn looked offended. She thought that Faith would have her back, that she understood, above everyone else. The outburst put her in a defensive mode from the start, making her more childlike than she ever is otherwise when she's with her partner.

"Reckless? You know I'm good at this, great. I haven't made mistakes yet. And sure, maybe I get into it when I'm in a fight but that's good, that let me focus on the fight and then nothing else matters. It's like, I'm dragging my opponents into a pocket dimension and we won't return until I'm the only one left standing."

Faith's grip loosened and she crossed her arms around her, her head bent down as she stared at the limbs trying to protect her from the onslaught of despair.

"Dawn. You're sounding like me." Dawn's mood improved momentarily. "Like me before Finch, before Buffy and the mayor. And I realize I've done this, I failed in the one thing I promised myself I wouldn't do when we got together. I've failed to help you stay away from that path and I can't continue leading you further down."

Dawn suddenly realized the implications of Faith's actions. "Wait no, you didn't cause this. I've done this. I'm good. I won't attack these guys, I promise. I'll try to be more careful, much more careful. Please don't say what I think you're trying to say!"

Faith forced herself to look into Dawn's eyes. "I just... I just can't be responsible for you making the same mistakes I have. I could never take that, I could never survive that. I could never stay and watch that. Not a day pass that I don't see the faces of those I killed. And who wouldn't? I walk undercover, deadpan, blending in with other humans while I hide the monster within."

Dawn pulled out her spear handle and the dagger strapped to her wrist and threw them both on the ground while Faith watched, wide-eyed.

"Then you won't have to see that. I just wanted to show you that I'm good at this, good at something. Good enough for you. If staying on the front lines is what is going to cost me your love, cost me having you in my life, then I'm done. I'll be the driver, the researcher, the backup witch. I'll be whatever as long as I'll be it with you by my side."

Faith crouched forward to cup her cheeks, a long kiss providing a break in the painful discussion. "No Dawn, I don't want you to quit." She picked the weapons from the ground and held them out for Dawn to retrieve. "And I don't want you to be anything less than you because you know what? I kinda love you being you. And it's you who are far too good for me, not the reverse. I just want you to be the best you, the caring you, who is brave and strong and smart and hot as no-one else but who is also careful and cunning. I am afraid every morning that this is the day I'll lose you and every time you rush in headless like you have nothing to lose yourself, I fear that it's becoming true."

Dawn returned the kiss with a short but intensive of her own. "I'm sorry. Of course I got something to lose. I got you. And Will and Tara and even Buffy even though I'll never admit it to her face but first and foremost it's you and nobody, nothing, else. And I want to be the me you love, I just fear being a burden, someone to protect. I've lived my life like that and it's hard being a professional victim."

Faith nodded slightly, her swagger returning bit by bit as the situation was calming down. "Okay. We both try to chill, maybe we should talk more even though it's lethal to us both, but we both remain true to each other and ourselves, okay?

Dawn nodded eagerly, releasing the tears she had been holding back. "Why'd you think I wanted to you stop fighting at all? If I wanted you to be a couch potato I never would've trained you or helped you get emancipated."

Her girlfriend looked at her shyly while the returned the weaponry to their holsters. "I didn't want to have this power and lose you. Willow said that Tara asked her to stop her magic, just for a while, or she'd leave."

Faith remember past conversations with Willow and the outcome of that demand. "And how exactly did that end up for them?"

Dawn hesitated under her gaze as Faith reiterated. "Dawn, how did that attempt go?"

"Willow failed, both were ignorant that they accidently set her up to fail, and she went off the cliff and magic took over her life as she started to lose everyone else in the process."

"And now do you see why that's not a good plan for you either? You are a fearsome fighter, a wicked warrior with few equals around, and to deny that would be to deny the true you." She brushed a few loose hairs from Dawn's face. "Now, let's return to the room and wait for the witches to return from the Jewish Inquisition so we can see what's going on in this city!"


	7. May 25, 2003. Tsaile, Arizona

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Birdsicle, Pentagrams and More Vaesen

_Okay so a pair of sassy eggs on my face, yesterday's dinner went better than I thought. My dad was both friendly and interested in what we had to say, and not just in a polite way. Mom was quiet, I think dad finally put down some limits on how she can treat others. Tara think that he regretted how the last meeting between us ended and wanted a final chance to make it better. He was probably right, I haven't given them any contact info and now I'm actually considering sneaking him our numbers as long as he can promise mom doesn't find out. That would never have happened if we would've had a regular dinner._

_He talked a bit about his parents and what he knew of their time in Amsterdam. Like we expected, they had a happy life with many friends in the jewish community. After the invasion, things fell apart quickly and now we're the last Rosenbergs left. Dad's sister died without children and unless he got some hidden family somewhere then I'm the end of the line._

_I checked that when I was twelve by the way, no such luck for him. I had a lot of time home alone and I wanted to find out why none of them wanted to spend time with me. And trust me, the summer of '93 was not a fun one. Other than the store clerk I don't think I talked to anyone for a month and a half when Jesse and Xander came back from Jesse's grandparents._

_So, odds are not good that I'd ever get children. I mean other than in Belgium and in the Netherlands I wouldn't even be able to get married to my soulmate.(if she ever got a permanent temporary insanity and wanted to) How messed up is that? Stupid regressive politicians being all 'hey no gayage in my face now watch me get married for the fifth time!"_

_So I can get why he's disappointed that I'm gay. I don't accept or even tolerate it, but I get it. He's wrong but he seems to have realized that it's not worth being wrong if it mean losing me so that's good. Good for my confidence, let me tell ya. Also good for me because it might be nice to have a dad. I don't have much in the way of experience of having parents around so it's not like he'd have a high average to compare to. And compared to my friends' dads? Tara, Xander and Faith all had it worse, much worse, while Buffy and Dawn used to have a father until he didn't want to be one anymore. Cordelia never got along with her dad and then he went to prison so that's above average if we're grading on a curve. Wesley's dad seems to be bad. I talked with him about the Council and he mentioned his dad was a veteran who was... strict. Apparently, he survived the war but from what Wes told me he probably won't rejoin Giles' Council, too reformative. Fred said her parents are really nice and supportive though!_

_I wonder if she's secretly evil or her parents are serial killers because she's really messing up that curve. Adopted? Kidnapped as a baby?_

_I should call her, make sure she's alright starting over in academia after a decade out of it. Maybe I should see if she want to be a Rosenberg since she's straight, smart, babbling and loves to research. Gotta check first if her parents are secretly evil, though._

_Anyway, we left on good terms and returned to our room. We went to bed early but about an hour before midnight both Faith and Dawn bursted in. I think they both had been crying and seemed very overly affectionate but I didn't say anything. It's not like Faith would've given me a straight answer anyway. Tara said, later in the evening, that she'll talk with her to make sure they're alright._

_They told us of three guard towers and both me and Tara and noticed one more, each, earlier in the day. So, I dug up a map of the city from their unpublic archives with bad IT security and I'm currently downloading and printing it out from the slowest server in the multiverse. It's just about done now though so time to rally the troops. About time, anyway, both the birds and the werewolves are getting rowdy._

  
***

  
Willow put the map on the bed and sat down, one leg under her body and the other hanging down the side of the bed. She marked out each tower with an X and Dawn quickly took the pen point out they formed a circle.

"Hey, isn't that where the none-shall-passy wall is located? Like, right under where Dawnie just drew?"

Tara held out her hand for the pen and Dawn complied. She leaned forward and drew five straight lines, connecting each of the towers, and the rest of them soon caught up with her.

"I don't get it, T. Why would they build the towers as a pentagram? Isn't that the satanic symbol you use when you've bound demons and spirits?"

Tara shook her head and handed the pen to Willow. "Not really. It's not satanic, it's Wiccan. But yes, it can be used to bind spirits and such but it's actually a symbol of protection and good fortune. I would wager that the placement, as well as the construction of the wall, was very deliberate."

"Which would explain why the birds and werewolves enter the town." Willow supplanted before a series of knocks on the door made her perform a startled jump.

"Don't worry Horndog, I'll get it. You three bookworms can continue with the researchiness and I'll make sure we're not disturbed."

She opened the door and saw the elder Rosenbergs waiting on the other side. "Err, can I help you? If you're looking for your room it's not this one, it's all full of us."

Ira hesitated, unprepared for Faith answering the door. "N-No, we're not looking for our room. We're looking for our daughter and the manager said this was the room she rented."

Willow appeared behind Faith and tapped her shoulder to let her know it was okay for her to take over. Faith moved back to the chair next to the bed and started the whetstone maintenance for her bowie knife. It was obvious to the four girls that she did it to mess with Willow and her parents but they let it go.

"So, uh, what brings you to our room at this hour? We're well past midnight and how did you even know we'd be awake and why'd you think that it's appropriate to knock in the middle of the night if I am awake and renting a room with my girlfriend?"

Dawn snickered behind her back as Tara turned red. She's far from the shy girl who grew crimson after every public use of vulgar language but it was something entirely different when there's any kind of parents involved.

Sheila just pushed past her daughter in a way only she could. She didn't touch or use force in any way but she squeezed enough in the gap between Willow and the door frame that her daughter moved away enough to let them both in fully.

"It's not like you've ever been one to go to sleep before 2AM, dear, and we saw the lights on and heard multiple voices so we thought-" She stopped mid-sentence as she saw the large amount of paraphernalia, tomes and the large drawn pentagram on the bed.

"I can't believe this! I thought that after all the disaster, all the death and destruction in Sunnydale, that you would grow out of this magician nonsense! It's like you refuse to grow up! You flunk out of college, you start living in some lesbian commune once Mrs Summers died, you keep getting into violent brawls and end up at the hospital and then you decide to just bum around the south-west without any job, education or future? This isn't what we raised you to become! And who are these two girls anyway, members of some sort of lesbo-witch cult?"

Ira moved to get between his wife and daughter, frustrated that she had once again ruined his attempts at reconciliation with their girl, when a large amount of yelling and shouting filled the air.

"Hey, mom Red and dad Red? Shut up. We got problems." Faith moved to the closest window and saw the chaos in the street. At least a dozen werewolves were attacking the Wolfram & Hart's security guards who were on the way to their sleeping arrangements, ripping several of them into gory chunks. At the same time, a huge murder of ravens were attacking everything they could and started to crash into windows in the area, terrorizing those living within, but never going too close to the ground or those on the first floor of building. Which, to Faith's chagrin, did not include their rooms on the second floor.

"Dawn, get the table over here. Old people, close and lock the door and stay inside. Witches, clear the bed and use it to cover the back windows before any of the birds find out we're a bounty of delectable pickings."

Sheila stood frozen, completely locked out of any attempt to be reasoned with, while Ira took to instructions as well as he usually did and locked the front door tight. Willow and Tara moved fast, pushing the bed up to the windows quickly and then holding it in space with a small incantation. Dawn moved the table to Faith and they both propped it up over the window, Faith using sharp kitchen utensils and her immense strength to nail it in place.

"Ira, what are you doing? What's going on? Willow Danielle Rosenberg, have you been taking drugs? Are these two girls your pushers?"

Once they all finished their assigned tasks Willow turned to her mom.

"No. Faith is a Slayer and Dawn is a fighter. Me and Tara are both witches, although of different specializations, and we're right now under siege by supernaturally controlled birds, I think, as well as werewolves and while you are trying to bitch at me yet another time we're trying to keep us all alive and stop this attack before more innocent people are hurt!"

As to punctuate her rant, one of the birds flew in from the bathroom and started flying around the room in a frenzy, crashing into the walls and furniture.

"Crap, I need to close and blockade the door to the bathroom before we get more visitors. Horndog, can you deal with this?"

Willow nodded, focused her eyes, and pointed towards the bird just as it flew towards Tara.

_"Kala."_

The bird froze, mid air, and crashed into the floor with a noise that reminded them of a falling rock. Faith turned from the newly-barricaded bathroom door with a grin.

"Nice job Horndog. So, what is it?"

Dawn took out her spear shaft, ready for any other intruders, and shrugged. "Looks like a birdsicle to me."

Tara rolled her eyes with a smirk and handed her the Vaesen tome while taking another for herself, Willow already moving for her computer to check online for info. Faith shrugged and started moving around the room, checking through gaps in the barricades to get a comprehension of what was going on. The howling was getting louder. Ira held Sheila's shoulder and looked around nervously.

"Willow, my girl, anything we can do to help out here?"

Willow looked up at them with an icy glare.

"Mom can stay still and keep her mouth shut. You can make sure she stays quiet so we can get to work. I'm tired of trying to be polite, I just want to stop this attack. Oh, and don't drink too much water, our toilet is currently unavailable."

Ira nodded and when his wife tried to protest he moved his hand over her mouth until she stopped trying to wriggle out. Only then did he release her with a stern glare.

It took about twenty minutes before Dawn stirred into action. "Got it! It's a Night Raven! Once again, Emerentia Linneaus comes through!"

The other three girls gave her their full attention, as did Ira who had by now sat down in a corner with his wife in tow. She was ignoring the proceedings, taking the opportunity to continue reading some old airport novel.

"We had wandered towards the shelter after the hymns of the midnight mass had gone quiet. The village priest of St. Justinea claimed to have heard the horrifying shrieks beyond the snowladen field to the east. But the mutilated bodies were not found until the sun finally dawned after the thick snowfall on Christmas Day, revealing the widow Egleus and her three children in a gruesome sludge of blood and night-black feathers. The Landlord, wretched and subdued, is said to have taken his own life to escape his harsh wife. Now, in the undead form of a wicked night bird, it seems he has had his revenge… From the notes of Emerentia Linnaeus, December 25th 1731"

As Dawn finished she was met with a smile of pride from Faith. "That's awesome, Shieldy. Sounds correct. Anything further we could use? Like, what angle to stab them from?"

"Well, I'd figure from below since few people can fly these days," Tara suggested.

"Why should we be punished just because we've learned to conquer gravity, baby?"

"Oh shush both of you," Dawn interrupted before continuing to read from the book. "Night ravens are the bitter and damned spirits of suicides and criminals buried in unholy ground, sometimes banished by a church grim who purged the unhallowed dead from the northern part of the graveyard. The night raven is a raven-like creature whose shape seems to shift and transform as it moves. An elusive night-black bird of oily smoke and scruffy feathers with glowing eyes and a beak full of razor-sharp teeth. The spirit flies close to the ground, always at night, supposedly seeking the tomb of Christ. They gather in flocks during major holidays, but during daytime they always seek shelter underground, only to resume their search when darkness falls. The night raven’s spirit will not find peace until its original body is buried in holy ground. It can be forced back into said body if it is wrapped in the burial shroud of a saint or bishop at night, and then exposed to the first rays of the morning sun."

Willow glanced around the room. "So, unless someone have some holy christmas wrapping for corpses lying around, we gotta make sure to re-interr a bunch of dug-up corpses and make sure they stay that way, correct?"

Ira chose this moment to intervene. "But, how? Even if you are able to do that nothing stops the lawyers or construction crew from coming back the next day."

"Not if you happen to make it too expensive to make another attempt." Willow grinned at her parents.

  
***

  
It took them a pair of locator spells and a quick rush to Faith and Dawn's motel room to resupply and consolidate their equipment but soon they had everything they needed. They had found where the lead Werewolf was currently positioned, they had weaponry in case nothing else worked and they had Dawnie, all riled up and ready to go.

"Alright Dawnie, you got the location in your mind?"

She tallest of the group nodded eagerly.

"Okay mom and dad, I'm just gonna say this once. Both of you stay in here until sunrise or one of us says otherwise, no matter what. If you try to leave, _mom_ , then I'll start contacting your associates in the field and informing them about all the stupid shit you've done as a parent while trying to be an expert on children. Being known for criminal child neglect is not something that'll do your career good." Her mother moved to protest. "And trust me, I will do it. I'm way past being polite to you. My dad has tried, at least, to be a parent and I can cut him some slack but you've been nothing but a cause of pain and anxiety in my life and I'm done giving you any kind of respect that you've never earned."

She turned to Dawn and nodded, not interested in waiting for any response from Sheila, and as Dawn opened a small wound with her dagger Tara pulled Willow to her and kissed her as the group disappeared in a flash of green light.

"So, I think our little Willow Tree has been hiding something from us the last few years, Sheila."


	8. May 26, 2003. Tsaile, Arizona

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Black Parade, Name Dropping and the Measure of the Pack

_Okay, that was an interesting day of thunderdome, overdue teen rebellion and pissing off one of the most dangerous groups in this(and many other) dimensions._

_I mean, that was a mess of seriously epic proportions._

_After my parents intruded on our research session and mom crapped all over me, my friends, my Tara and everything I believe in things, got really bad. Someone inside the city, don't really know who but I suspect it was one of the anti-gravedefiling activist locals, created a crack in the gigantic pentagram-o-protection that surrounded the town and let in the werewolves and their birdy air support. Dawnie found out their origin and we Dawnported to the location of their alpha wolf._

_He was not happy or prepared to face us but in his defense, he adapted quickly._

  
***

  
The group appeared in a shimmer of green light and Tara immediately threw up a barrier in the form of a bubble around the group, ensuring that bird and wolf both stay away. The biggest of the wolves turned to them with a growl and, to all but Willow's surprise, spoke.

"Who are you and why do you interfere in the crusade of the Black Parade?"

Willow stepped up carefully, making sure she didn't leave the protective bubble.

"Hi! I'm Willow and these are my friends. We're here to, well, help out and to stop further murder of innocents! Also, what the what is the 'Black Parade' anyway?"

The wolves surrounding them went into combat positions and the birds circled overhead like vultures waiting for a thirsty animal to die in the desert. The leader of the pack stood on his hind legs and recited a chant, the other wolves following his lead.

"Now have they seen this light for the last time, they were turning back the clock and we won't survive on just hope this time. They slowly break us down from the inside and force a way of life we don't recognize, our free will has died.   
We take our breath for the last time, we'll give it one more cry before they burn a hole in our hearts again. We saw it coming, this Black Parade and all that it ends. You and I both know, this Black Parade on power depends. You can fight it but we can't end."

He went down to all four and growled at the group.

"Give me one reason why I would even entertain the notion that we would listen to you?"

Willow shrugged. "Because we don't want to kill you all and you don't want to die. I don't know if you've heard of us but that there is the The Dark Slayer," Faith nodded, her hands gripping the battleaxe in a defensive posture. "the tall girl behind me is the Key Shieldmaiden," Dawn offered a cheeky grin, her spear still strapped to the holster to make them underestimate them. "The lovely lady by my right is the Guardian Angel," Tara offered no response, her focus now being on maintaining the barrier and staying alert to quickly cast any other spells they might need. "And I'm Willow, otherwise known as the Red Valkyrie in certain circles."

Murmur amongst the furry crowd could be hear above the shrieking of the ravens that continuously flew around them, staying very close to the ground. Willow saw the glint in the pack leader's eye that she had seen in Oz in the past, one of recognition that pierced the animal instinct.

"So, I think you know that if we can create a new bay for the Pacific Ocean where a city once stood a group of, admittedly powerful and quite intimidating, werewolves with their spirit birds does not really faze us. We just don't want bloodshed because in the long run, we're on the same side."

The wolf laughed and his packmates howled in recognition.

"I have heard of you but any four girls with a witch of modicum power could come here and claim what you have. We will do the Measure of the Packs and if you win, we'll talk."

Willow turned back to the others who all signalled their ignorance of the ritual.

"Ehhm, well, while I do have some history with the lycanthropic kind, my ex was a solitary wolf and as such we do not know of what the Measure of the Packs actually is. Could you enlighten us before we accept?"

He grinned. "It's simple. I pick one of your warriors and she fight in a duel to the death with my weakest fighter, Jonah. The pack is only as strong as the weakest member and since I challenged you, I don't get to pick my own champion so that they can fight fair. The fight is 'everything goes'. We can not ban you from using magic or weapons if we are to use our natural state."

The girls looked over each other and nodded. None wanted this, one dead would be horrible but the alternative was letting the Black Parade massacre the locals or kill the pack to prevent it. Faith spoke up first.

"We accept."

The leader of the pack nodded solemnly. "You may turn off the barrier. We are people of the word and I swear none of you will be hurt by us before, during or after the ritual as long as you agree to the same conditions. After the ritual you will have a short period of grace in which you are allowed to leave the town if you lose and if you win, we will not attack you at all as you have proven that you Measure and we will agree to parlay as equals."

Tara nodded, sensing and hoping he was telling the truth, and the barrier dispelled without any of the participants in the attacks breaking their leader's oath.

The pack leader looked upon the group that infiltrated their gruesome assembly. He felt the power of the two witches and the smell of a Slayer was an increasingly common one this summer. The fourth intruder, the tallest but youngest of the group, was more of an unknown and did not hold the same reputation as the others. She seemed unarmed and the smell of the Slayer on her hinted more that she was there as a mate of the Slayer, the obvious alpha of the group.

"Her!" He pointed at Dawn. "I pick her to battle against Jonah."

Both Willow and Tara looked pale and were about to protest but Faith spoke first. "Agreed. She will fight for us."

While the wolves drew up a small ring, ten yards across, the girls were allowed to move to the side. They moved close and whispered to avoid eavesdroppers while Tara bandaged Dawn's arm.

"Dawnie, are you certain about this?"

"I am, Tara. He think I'm weak and I am still armed. I'll avoid using the Key and hopefully I can end it without killing the boy."

Faith pulled her close and kissed her passionately. "Make me proud, Shieldmaiden."

"Always, Fay."

  
***

  
The combatants each took their place in the ring and waited for the command to start.

"We see the truth in the eyes of the sky and since we were born we've been destined to die. This life it has no meaning, we greet death like a friend. We're in a state of worship, we've got a faith we must defend. Our ticket to the heavenly, our salvation from Hell. Our gateway to eternity, our escape from this insanity. Your death will be the final stand, your death will be our sacrifice, your death will be Khorne's last command and be our guide to paradise! By the blood and skulls of our ancestors, may the Measure of the Pack begin!"

The wolf immediately pounced at the command and Dawn dodged to the side in response. He managed to scratch her leg, taking full advantage of his advance knowledge when the chant ended. Dawn didn't hesitate and pulled out the shaft from the holster without extending it. As he dove again, she lept under him, smashing his jaw in a fluid movement that shook him momentarily. When he turned around and growled in frustration he was surprised that the young woman wasn't moved at all. She had the same expression as she had when she entered the ring, as if nothing had changed since the duel started.

They did the song-and-dance of him attacking and she expertly avoiding his blows, smashing him with he shaft of her spear each time, for about a minute until she noticed a gash on her left leg. He had hit her. Not a deep cut but the dripping blood would weaken her, especially since she already spent energy teleporting them to the group.

That's when she let her emotions loose. His next dive was met with her summoning a barrier on her shield arm and bounced him backwards. Without ever stopping, she extended the blade part of the spear and sliced up an identical wound to her own on the wolf's left leg. He got up again, howled into the night sky, and tried to ignore the vocal and visual expressions of shock that his packmates failed to contain. He moved to the side and tried to slash her while remaining standing, realizing that she could've cut his throat with her earlier attack and probably would again if he repeated it. She sidestepped the attack and cut off a part of his right ear.

As she moved in for a thrusting jab, he slapped the spear off-balance and tried to counter when the blade was directed elsewhere. A small click, a wet thud and a whimper from the girl informed him of the failed move.

In order to avoid being mauled to death, Dawn had been forced to run the stake part of her spear through his lung. She had seen enough wounds throughout the years with the Scoobies and Outlaws that she knew he was going to die within minutes. She stood, frozen in position, as the wolf bled to death in front of her and when he transformed into a young local boy, one she'd seen at the protests during the day, she knew he was dead.

"Well done! You and your group Measure!"

Dawn retracted the spear and held it limply as Faith ran up to embrace her.

"I... I didn't want to... He tried to... I didn't..."

"I know, D, I know. You had no choice, you did your best to keep him alive, but he knew what was coming and he embraced it. It is not your fault, you hear me? Not. Your. Fault."

Dawn nodded weakly collapsed into her girlfriend.

"Hey Horndog, I'm gonna go back to our room with Dawn. You two good here?"

Tara offered a sympathetic smile and nodded, Willow gave a 'are you sure you're okay?' look and after Faith gave a nod in response, she returned nod with a joyless smile.

"Okay. Now you have lost one of your pack for no good reason and the Measure is over, may we finally talk how we're going to end this conflict in your favour once and for all?"

The wolf growled but agreed.

  
***

  
The witches sat down indian-style in front of the crouching pack leader who had finally introduced himself as just Alpha, explaining that once he became the pack leader he gave up his own identity.

"Okay, we're gonna be quick about this so we can go back to sleep and the town can start rebuilding."

Alpha nodded. "Agreed. Present your offer and I will listen fairly."

"Well, it's rather simple. Wal*Mart is represented by the evil lawyer firm Wolfram & Hart. They represent groups like demons, vampires, terrorists and other unsavory but resourceful clients. We've prior knowledge of their branch in Los Angeles. Anyway, the plan is that as soon as we're done here, we go and bury your ancestors and family members who they've uprooted. Then, we'll use their machines to ruin all they've built so far and the machines. After that, I'll dig up a forged document that explain that the burial ground was actually designated a protected area thirty years ago which'll at least put a temporary hold in EvilCorp business. Finally, we'll inform the lawyers that this town is under our protection. They know who we are and even if they ignore us, we got powerful friends who they can't ignore. Friends that could probably wipe out all their branches in this dimension, given time."

The Alpha was quiet for a minute, making the girls increasingly nervous, but eventually agreed.

"We can do this. What of the invaders?"

"No civilians shall die, nor any human guards who do not fight back. You have the right to defend yourselves but harassing the people here as you have is not the answer. If you murder the innocent, our support for your cause will end." Tara broke into the conversation.

"Fine. We accept. I do have one more question, though."

Willow looked at him curiously, content that they seems to have reached an accord.

"Are you some sort of rare subspecies of our kind?"

Willow looked like a deer-in-headlights. "What?"

"Yes, your alpha called you a 'Horndog' and we have yet to meet one of our kind who have any kind of horns or antlers at all."

Willow's groan was loud enough to drown out Tara's laughter.

  
***

  
_But yeah, even though Dawnie's pretty messed up right now, we managed to avoid any further bloodshed. She's currently in the back seat with her head in Tara's lap. We have music on so that Faith and I can offer them some kind of privacy, talks with Tara has always been the best cure for heartache for, well, all three of us._

_While Dawnie and Faith returned to their room we went with the pack and got to work. Their people gathered the corpses from a storage area and reinterred them. Meanwhile, me and Tara spent a LOT of our strength to pretty much crush their construction site by dropping the machines on it. It was fun but extremely tiring and is the reason why I'm not driving right now, I'm waaay too dizzy to stay focused._

_In the morning I arranged for the doctored papers and sent a discreet message to the W &H rep explaining who we were and that their work in Tsaile end, right now. I might have used our full names and reminded them who Dawn's sister is to properly underline the seriousness of the situation._

_Oh yeah, I sent my parents back after we got to the room and have explained to them that my dad is very welcome to contact me again and that if we're able, we'd love to have dinner with him. My mother has been told to stay away. Not asked to, I'm not asking her again._

_Heading towards Texas now. Our tipster within the Council informed us that there's a rogue slayer in Austin that seems to need help from people who are NOT connected to the Watchers. Faith immediately signed us up but even if she wouldn't have, we all agreed that we're uniquely situated to help her._


	9. 12-21 June 2003. Santa Rosa, New Mexico

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bookkeeping, Motel Moments and Militia Madness

_June 12, 2003_

_Okay, just gonna get it on record; I'm not a fan of Santa Rosa. In general, small towns are not my thing because whenever we have to make a stop things goes all Sunnydale and we have to fight for our lives. The Lesbomobile just had its first major fault since we bought it but I can't really fault it, we've been running her ragged. I mean sure, the truck got a bunch of sprinted uses back in Sunnydale but now it's not only used for travel most of the day but we often sleep in it, cook on it and once we even pulled up a small SUV that we passed and had gone off the road into a ditch._

_Still, the mechanic said we're going to have to wait up to five weekdays at least until the replacement piece come into town. I guess it's too much to expect that they would carry every possible spare in a place like this._

_We're currently lodged at the 106 Motel. It's at the merging of the 40 and old 66 so props to them for a mildly clever name. The manager was an ass though, refusing to let us rent two beds with one bed each. After a lot of shouting and Dawn physically pulling Faith away(I'm pretty sure Faith allowed it, hard to see it happen otherwise) while told me to outside, we agreed to two rooms with two beds each. She reminded us afterwards that we can just push the beds together._

_She can make me feel silly like none other and I love her for it._

_Tare also made sure that we got rooms with lockers with attachable padlocks so we've gone out and bought a pair. Smart move, I don't trust the manager with our books and weapons and stuff. Bad first impression, gonna give this place a piss rating on Tripadvisor._

_I'm also gonna make sure we have sex in both beds just to give them a huge middle-finger._

_Buttfaces._

  
_***_

  
_June 13, 2003_

_Okay now they're just being assholes for the sake of it. They refuse to let us rent a car in the only place in town because we have California licenses. Every place we've been at have carded us as well, even when we were buying a six-pack of energy drinks for Faith!_

_Got a noise complaint this morning, too, and an implicit threat of public indecency charges. Dawn pointed out the very loud sex worker a few rooms down but we all knew what they meant so we're putting up sound dampening spells tonight for both rooms._

_Closest bar refused to serve us, by the way, even if Faith and Dawn stayed dry. Gonna check out the other one tomorrow, we're eating takeout tonight instead._

  
_***_

  
_June 14, 2003_

_Woke up with cops at the door. Apparently, the bar manager thought we had kidnapped Dawn and were putting her at risk. Took them over an hour, even after showing the emancipation papers, to back off 'with a warning'._

_Darn truck need to be fixed soon. Faith is getting restless, I'm mad as hell, Dawn is getting nervous and Tara is working her ass off making sure we survive small-town America._

_I hate how she had to live in secret for so long and I hate how she has to do it again._

  
_***_

  
_June 15, 2003_

_Okay, someone's gonna get gutted if we're not out of here soon. Not only did the other bar refuse to serve us too but they called the cops on us when we pushed the issue. Same asshole cops as yesterday._

_When we got back home the housekeeping had pulled the beds away from each other and even moved the nightstands inbetween to prevent reunification. Pssh, as if that's gonna work._

  
_***_

  
_June 16, 2003_

_They moved the beds again. This time they've actually used a screwdriver to put both the beds and the nightstand in place. That totally stopped us._

_For about five minutes. Idiots._

_Dawn also noticed that someone had tried to jimmy up the padlocks in both our rooms. We've put some wards on the locks so next one who tries get the immediate effects of a very bad burrito._

_By the way, we had burritos yesterday. One of them was very bad and I'm staying inside today._

  
_***_

  
_June 17, 2003_

_Some woman in her 40's, one of the waitresses, threatened Tara in a restaurant bathroom while I was at home. Seems homophobia is some kind of requirement for residency here. Faith 'talked' with the woman who didn't know she was in a stall at the time but Tare said there were no injuries, just very clear boundaries._

_I had the fun experience of being in the bathroom when housekeeping returned, thinking I was out with the rest. Not only did I hear a very creative use of slurs and curses when he saw that we've returned the beds but I also caught him just as he was about to attempt picking our locker padlock. He didn't even have an excuse, he just stood up and stormed out of there with a huff._

  
_***_

  
_June 18, 2003_

_The missing part finally arrived but the mechanics say there's gonna be at least two days, maybe three, until they can fix everything. Apparently there was no way to do that while waiting for the missing part. Sure. I totally believe that story._

_Had a bunch of slurs and anti semitic stuff spray painted on our doors. They messages were tagged with PF14 which is, according to Google, a local extremist militia called Patriotic Front 14. So yeah, they got a compound in the town. Not even outside, it's like three blocks away._

_We've decided to always keep at least two of us in the rooms at all times. The walls are thin enough that we can keep both under surveillance at once but it blows not having a safe space to just sleep. Nobody goes anywhere alone, either. Anyone can be ambushed when caught off guard._

  
_***_

  
_June 19, 2003_

_We got a bill for the sanitation of the vandalism today._

_Seriously._

_That lead to a very interesting discussion where I showed the terms of service we signed when we rented the room. Then I demanded they showed me where in the local, state or federal laws we were responsible for an attack on us._

_When he tried to fib at me, I pulled out the state law and reminded him that the only one who knew my last name was he himself when I signed the ToS and for anyone to know of my heritage they'd have to have been informed by him._

_He then threatened to throw us out but once again I pointed to the New Mexico anti-discrimination ordinance and he had to back down._

_We actually called the two other motels but both claimed they had no vacancies._

  
_***_

  
_June 20, 2003_

_Faith and I caught the manager when he tried to jimmy the other room's padlock. Fortunately, I was about ten seconds too late so I only caught him rushing out of the room as the ward had triggered. I'd say that he probably learned his lesson but in this town? No way._

_We're all staying in tonight, Faith bought a pack of cards but we're all climbing the walls. Dawn has been insisting for a few days now that there must be some Mothers Opposed to the Occult-style shenanigans. We're pretty sure there isn't but we're keeping our guard up._

  
_***_

  
_June 21, 2003_

_Truck is done. Finally. We've packed out stuff and Faith is returning the keys before we carry everything to the truck. I can't wait to get out of this wannabe hellmouth._

  
***

  
"The truck will be with ya in a couple of minutes, 10 tops, feel free to get some fresh air in our wonderful town in the meanwhile."

Willow openly scoffed at him as she left the workshop in frustration. "They need to do some final touches, apparently. Up to ten more minutes."

"It's getting dark already, Will. Are you sure we should continue on our way tonight?"

Willow nodded, a thin line formed on her lips.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Even if I caught a bout of lunacy I'm pretty sure the 106 would claim they're fully booked anyway."

Tara sighed, exasperated.

"I really hope our next top is better than this. I mean, it's not like that's a hard bar to pass but this has just been terrible all-round."

Willow nodded and kissed her forehead.

"I've already looked up any potential stops on our road to Austin and found at least one acceptable lodging in each place. I'm not doing this again."

The truck was being driven out by one of the mechs who quickly dismounted.

"Alrighty then, gimme a few minutes and I'll come back out with the bill. I'll be holding the keys so you don't bail on me but you can start loading the truck with all 'em bags there."

They moved rather fast, not wanting to spend another minute in the town, when Faith suddenly stopped.

"Get the bags in, quick. I think we're in trouble. Dawnie, go in and pay the idiots. Tara, be prepared for a big barrier, one that can take a lot of hits. Horndog, it might be big-gun time."

The others looked at her nervously but her stern face gave no doubt of her instincts so they moved out to follow the instructions.

They could hear Dawn do her best 'nagging and impatient teenager'-voice to speed things up inside when they saw the confirmation to their fears. Four trucks, civilian but with makeshift armor and loaded with armed militiamen, pulled up about fifty yards from them and formed a half-circle barricade, at last two dozen fully-armed men taking positions. An obese man in a cheap approximation of an officer's uniform stepped up to one of the flatbeds of the lead truck and brought a megaphone to his mouth.

"I'm sorry, dykes, but we're not about to let vermin like you come here and sully our town. We're here to make a citizen's arrest on all four of you so you can consider that truck and all in it to be confiscated in the name of General Maddox of the Patriotic Front, 14th Company."

Faith looked at her friends and they shifted their positions to be able to dive into cover if shooting started.

"I'm sorry, Major Michelin Man, I didn't hear ya over that mouth breathing you got going. How about you come here and repeat it to my face, 'kay?"

He spat and threw a number of slurs as his first response.

"You won't get another chance. Surrender or we'll be considerin' you to be resistin' arrest and that won't end pretty for ya."

Faith turned to Willow and Tara who both nodded. Tara threw up an invisible barrier in front of Willow and Faith while she headed behind the truck for cover. Faith waited for a distraction while Willow started radiating power.

_"Vind-old!"_

A series of lightning bolts suddenly struck the area as Willow started floating several yards above the ground, taking out each of the four trucks in quick succession and throwing the militiamen to the ground. Faith took the opportunity to rush up to the barricade while sounds of fighting from inside the mechanic shop made it to the rest of the group.

More bolts of lightning continue to strike the town with increasing strength and frequency. The two bars that had denied them service, the restaurant where the server had harassed Tara, the motel manager's office as well as the militia compound were all hit by blasts and caught fire. Willow redirected the bolts to form a ball of lightning surrounding her as she slowly hovered towards the barricade.

Faith had not been idle while the town was struck by the lightning bolts. He had disarmed every would-be revolutionary and threw their weapons as far as she could into the distance, taking them out one by one as they covered. A few managed to get a couple of shots off, sometimes even a few bursts, but Tara's complete focus on the barriers ensured that the few bullets that would have hit their mark instead fell to the ground, harmless.

Eventually she made it to the pretend General and pulled him up with one arm.

"You fuckin' dykes, you're all bitches! Unholy abominations unto the Lord!"

Faith threw him a few yards away before pinning him under her boot while Willow hovered up to remain in sight.

"Witches. Red here and her girlfriend are witches, actually. My girlfriend is a wicked goddess of war in all but name and I'm a Slayer. You might have heard of the Slayers, we've made quite a mark these last few months around the world, but if you haven't then here's a lesson. Don't mess with Slayers or their friends. The only reason you're all still alive is because we decided you were too dumb to die. So, we're gonna take our truck and drive the hell out of this burning craphole of a town while you idiots stay here and clean up the mess."

Tara moved up and pushed one of the ruined trucks to the side of the road, making space for Dawnie who had by now started their own vehicle and drove up next to them. Willow cancelled her spell and hovered to the ground with a grin.

"You might want to ensure that you don't keep anything important at that compound of yours. You see, it seems to have caught a slight case of the arsons."

He turned his head in the direction of the compound but could only see black smoke in the air from his prone position. Faith pushed down her heel, cracking a pair of his ribs, and the girls returned to the truck, leaving the disoriented milita staring after them as they drove away. A few minutes out of town, Willow collapsed into her seat with a despondent frown.

"This isn't good. This is going to make too much of a mark. I shouldn't have done that much. Giles will take notice of this. Crap. Crap crap crappity crap-crap-crap."

Dawnie put her hand, the knuckles bloodied from her fight with the mechanics who tried to take her hostage, on Willow's shoulder.

"They gave us no choice. All those guns would've overwhelmed our barriers even if all three of us focused on nothing but shields. You went Shock and Awe, literally, and it worked."

Willow smiled joylessly as she turned to her.

"I wish that was true. I didn't need to hit all those buildings, I could've kept it local."

Dawn shrugged, her smile more genuine.

"Maybe. But instead you gave them the impression that you were sent by hell itself to bring the apocalypse to their town. I think there's not a single pair of clean set of camo underoos in that group right now."

Willow giggled but could only stare out the window into the darkening desert sky. ' _Yeah, just an impression. Doesn't really feel like it's just for show these days._ '


	10. June 25, 2003. Amarillo, Texas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ATF, DRI, SPI and Dreamlands

_Amarillo Globe-News_  
_Wednesday, June 25, 2003_

**_ATF continues probe into extremist militia_ **

_The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms have announced that they've found evidence that the Patriotic Front militia based in Santa Rosa, NM, was more involved in illegal weapon and alcohol activity than previously announced. Evidence of high explosives, fully automatic heavy machine guns and an assembly-line distillery have been found in the ruins of the heavily defended compound._

_The compound, together with numerous other establishments in the small town, all were struck by lightning bolts in a freak thunder storm that wrecked the town's economy. Miraculously, no deaths have been reported and very few injuries._

_The leader of the militia Luther Maddox, aged 52, has been taken into custody on numerous charges. Maddox has spent numerous tours in prison for sentences such as aggravated assault, possession of an illegal firearm and racketeering and is expected to stand trial within six months, pending the developments of the investigation. He has known connections with right-wing organizations past and present such as The Order, the Aryan Nations, the KKK and others._

_His legal representation is claiming that the government is intruding on Maddox' 2nd amendment rights and have caused so much distress that he is suffering from a mental breakdown. Witnesses claim that when he was arrested he kept shouting about flying witches and superpowered teenage girls, prompting speculation that he will be trying for an insanity plea in the upcoming trial._

_The federal government, including ATF, FEMA, DHS and the FBI, have cordoned off the area surrounding Santa Rosa due to the large number of volatile materials in the area and to help organize the relief efforts for the local inhabitants._

  
***

  
The uniformed man dropped the piece of molten chassis to the ground and removed his protective gloves as he turned to his partner.

"This was one of the four cars that were struck, reportedly simultaneously, by a directed bolt of lightning. Witnesses claim that all the fires that resulted in a total of five buildings burning to the ground were caused by similar bolts, including the militia compound."

His partner looked handed him a receipt, signed with a shaky hand. "The mechanic claim that the truck the four Super Powered Individuals used to leave the town after the attack was signed out with this receipt after it was repaired. According to the mech, they spent a week here causing havoc and terrorizing the locals until their pickup truck was fixed and they put the town to the flames. It was signed out by one Winters, Dusk."

He turned to her with a grin. "Dusk Winters? Boy, some people can't avoid making up dumb aliases, that one is pretty obvious."

"Well, we also have the motel manager's testimony. He also claimed there were four of them but that he mostly dealt with a short red-haired woman that kept destroying the furniture and harassing the help. He also ranted about immoral liaisons and unholy abominations but I'm pretty sure that was just some old-fashioned homophobia."

Riley turned to her with a frown. "Let me guess, I'm going to recognize the name on the booking aren't I?"

Samantha nodded. "It's Rosenberg. For some reason they didn't use an alias when checking in, only out."

"She's probably still traveling with Willow's girlfriend, Tara. If we go by history, the third member that claimed she's a Slayer would be Faith. I wonder who the fourth one is, that Burkle scientist that lived with them before Sunnydale was destroyed?"

She sighed, frustrated. "You should be glad you're handsome because smart, you're not. It's Buffy's younger sister, Dawn Summers. You know, the opposite of Dusk Winters."

He looked at her sheepishly and kicked idly in the ground.

"Let's not mention that brain fart to our boss, okay? We're already gonna have paperwork for weeks to tie this entire mess up, not to forget the coverup work that's going to be necessary."

She nodded and put the receipt in a plastic bag that she pocketed. "We don't have any actual laws that we can prove they've broken without supernatural means, do we? Would be quite a mess if the DRI tried to bag them in public otherwise."

He shook his head and sighed. "No, we got nothing so far. Both Rosenberg and Lehane are known unstable SPIs though so it's only a matter of time. And it's not going to be pretty when we try to apprehend them, two witches and a Slayer is a pretty volatile target to go after."

"How about the youngest, Summers? Any idea what she can do in a hostile situation?"

"Nope. Buffy said her only inherent magic disappeared when they defeated Glorificus in 2001 so she's probably with them for old times' sake. Dawn is not much of a threat or priority, according to the brass. Lehane and Rosenberg are the priority targets. Maclay, while part of the destruction of Sunnydale, has no recorded and confirmed incidents as far as we know and is mostly known for her unwavering support of Rosenberg and the Summers sisters."

"Okay Rye. Let's gather what we got so far and report it and send out a warning to our Dallas branch that we got SPI's heading eastward."

  
***

  
_A younger Willow, her waist-length hair free over the back of her red-white striped sweater and blue pants, kept pace with Buffy as they moved towards the living room._

_"So was it horrible?"_

_Buffy shrugged in her comfy clothing, obviously relaxed after the harrowing conversation with her mother but willing to keep a cool exterior._

_"It wasn't too horrible."_

_The phone rang, the individual watching them through the dining room window taking cover as Buffy jogged back to the the room and answered the call. "Hello?"_

_"Buffy?" An exhausted voice replied._

_Buffy immediately got energized, happy to bring the good news of the rituals of revoking vampire invitations. "Giles! Hey, we finished the spe-"_

_Giles interrupted her somberly. "Jenny... Ms. Calendar... She's been killed."_

_Buffy froze, unable to form coherent thoughts. "What?!"_

_"It was Angel." Giles continued as if every word was equal to hours of the most exquisite torture._

_"Buffy?" Willow noticed she was catatonic and about to drop the phone and took it out of Buffy's hand, putting the receiver to her ear. "Giles?"_

_"Willow. Angel's killed Jenny." He repeated the information that he just gave Buffy as Joyce entered the room, sensing something was off. Buffy had already started to collapse to the floor, using the wall as support to remain in a seated position as she reached the ground._

_"What?" Willow crashed. She spent the last few ounces of effort she was capable of to turn off the phone and put it on the table, never wanting to be a bother. As soon as she had done so, Joyce gathered her in the arm as her world collapsed around her and she just repeated herself over and over. "No! Oh. No!"_

_"Willow! My God, Buffy!" The elder Summers reached to Willow to prevent her from collapsing and hurting herself. "What's wrong? Has something happened?"_

_She didn't get an answer. Willow wailed in her embrace while Buffy just sat on the floor, staring into the distance. Just when it seemed that she was about to get direct eye contact with the voyeur in their yard, the outsider moved behind a tree._

_"So, you come to this dream often?" The voice of Janna made the present day Willow jump from her position behind the cover._

"I... Just... I r-remember this!" Willow stammered, nervously looking around for the source. "I see this evening in front of my eyes around the end of February every year."

Janna materialized in front of the window, the world around them frozen in time. "I know. While I am glad to be remembered, it's a shame that this is your most vivid memory of me. It may be a bit narcissistic but I'm not even in it, you know!"

She grinned and Willow allowed herself a tiny smile. "Well, that's what trauma does to you. I take it you also know Giles' most vivid memory?"

Janna chuckled as she moved towards the other dream voyeur. "Yes, but it's not the one he told you, not when he found my body in his bed. In respect for his privacy, I'll keep the details of his most vivid memory a secret between the two of us if you don't mind."

Willow smiled and moved up to hug the corporeal spirit of her first mentor. "I'm okay with that. I'm sorry this is what is closest to me; I really wish it wasn't so. I do have other, better memories as well. Like, one of the first time I really felt proud of being, well, me was when you trusted me to teach! I mean, I realize now it was more a panic measure due to the lack of willing, and living, substitutes in Sunnydale but it was still a big deal to baby Willow!"

Janna smiled as she remembered the event before Willow frowned and put some distance between the two.

"I hope that when I die, the memory people will have of me is better. Not this, not when I attacked the Watchers or when I destroyed Santa Rosa as a monster of destruction. And not when I abused Tara or endangered Dawn in my addiction. Or when they found me, soiled and bleeding and crying and sweating in Rack's prison. I know, it's stupid but I hope it isn't that bad for everyone at least."

Janna shrugged. "No, not for everyone. For Buffy, yes, it's the wreckage with Dawn but not for Giles. For him, it's when you and the others cast the Enjoining Spell. He was so proud, and so afraid, of you then. He still is. I won't say what it is for Tara because that's personal and you'll have to ask her but I can say it's a good memory, one that is always close to her heart. As for Xander... Are you sure you want to know?"

Willow nodded anxiously.

"I'll show you then. You weren't there so it's a new one." The surroundings started to shift in time but not much in location, moving to Willow and Tara's old room in Fort Summers. "Oh, by the way, you took the role of Angel in that memory. He was watching you and Buffy suffer and the creep got off on it. Just thought you'd oughta know, if he hasn't told you already."

_The new surroundings became clear and they stood by the window, watching a Xander sporting a fresh eyepatch sitting by the bed. He was crying, holding a pair of pictures in his hands. One was of Cordelia and him, from before the Fluke, and the other was of the Scooby Gang during their celebration of his and Anya's engagement. In that picture he was embracing Anya who was sporting a grin that left no doubt that she was as happy as happy could be._

_The door was open and shouts could be heard from the bottom floor where Riley and Giles were trying to reorganize the army after they seized power from Buffy and Angel. After a few minutes, Willow entered the room. Which profoundly confused the spectating present-day Willow._

"Janna, this never happened. I was quite busy making researching the Scythe by this point."

Her old teacher nodded. "You were, yes. Not she, though."

_The other Willow coughed awkwardly and waved when Xander turned his head towards her._

_"H-hi, Xander! You okay in here?"_

_He looked at her with sadness and faked indifference._

_"What do you want, Willow? Haven't you taken enough from me already?"_

_The dream-Willow looked hurt but bit her tongue. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to see how you are. I worry about you."_

_He looked back to the pictures and sighed. "My oldest friend killed the woman I love, years after driving away my first real love and then killing her. My best friend was just driven out of her home, hours after she led us into a suicide attack that cost me an eye, and I did nothing but watch her walk out of here. My mentor, the closest I've ever had to a real father figure, was in charge of the rebellion and I'm now sitting alone in my dead mother figure's room because I have nowhere else to go."_

_The dream Willow offered a sympathetic smile. "To be fair, I didn't drive Cordelia away. She left after you, we, had an affair. And I had to kill the demon possessing her, she was irrevocably possessed by an otherworldly power. Anyanka wasn't really my fault either." She turned stern as the smile transformed into a thin line on her lips. "She tried to kill you, me, Buffy and Faith and the only reason she was a demon again is because YOU left at the altar. I wasn't even there. And Buffy couldn't lead, Giles did the best thing he could by taking charge."_

_He rose to his feet, infuriated. "How can you say that? Buffy has led us through thick and thin for seven years! She housed you when you and Tara dorm was destroyed! And you didn't even try to save Anya or Cordelia, you went for the kill before they had a chance."_

_She shook her head. "No. You were knocked out when Anya tried to kill us and you weren't there when the demon possessing Cordelia's corpse did the same. And Buffy is spent. She's given up. She has left the city and won't come back, she's left you for dead without so much as a goodbye!"_

_He stood up to grab her arm, only to see his own fade right through her. "W-Willow? Will? What's going on?"_

_She cackled and the spectator Willow cringed. "Do I really sound like that?" Janna shrugged apologetically in response._

_The dream-Willow calmed down and grinned. "What do you think happened to your red bitch? You abandoned her, like everyone else, and now she's paid the price. And soon, the rest of you will follow as I claim this dimension as my own!"_

_The scene froze like the one before had and Willow was pale._

"B-but I've never died. I was told the First Evil could only recreate people who had died. I'm alive, aren't I?"

Janna put her hand on the witch's shoulder to calm her down. "Actually, you did die once. Remember that first Halloween with Buffy? When you became your outfits?"

She nodded. "Yeah, Xander became a soldier and Buffy that noblewoman and I was..." She faded away.

"...a ghost. And one kind of essential requirement in being a ghost is, well, dying. You actually died that evening, if only for a short while, and was then resurrected when Rupert broke the curse. And Xander still have nightmares of this vision, when he offloaded on what he thought was you only to find out that you were dead. When you returned to this house with the Scythe and Caleb's head, nice shock value there by the way, he was so overwhelmed with emotions that he almost fainted on the spot. He still doesn't know when or how you died but he remember the panic he felt when he thought you were dead."

Willow's response was so quiet it was almost inaudible.

"I thought he hated me."

Janna shook her head again.

"No, he doesn't. It's complicated, yes, and he'll always attach the memory of Anyanka's beheading with your intervention but he doesn't hate you. He just doesn't know what to do. His mind, his-what do you call it, your Dark Disquiet-is almost as disturbed as yours. He live a lonesome life these days, even amongst allies."

Willow turned around to her guide. "Is my death why I've been having nightmares ever since junior year, nightmares I could never really recall or identify?"

"Yes, that seems logical. You died, even if only temporarily, and your soul was forever scarred that day. You have memories from a death that both was and wasn't, a life that ended and didn't. Your spirit must have experienced the horrors even if your mind didn't recognize them."

Willow changed demeanor with this new revelation.

"You're telling me you, and whoever you work for, have known about this for [i]seven damn years and kept quiet about it? On top of all the other crap that I and my friends, current and former, have suffered through these eight years I also have to suffer extra credit psychological terror in my subconscious but not getting informed about it until now? What kind of monsters are your bosses, really? What is the difference between them and the demons they fight if both side torture those that fight for them?"

Janna shrugged. "Who said you fought for anyone? I don't have any boss, I refused to work for anyone once my family caused those I loved torment with the curse and then got me killed for it. I lived my life a lie and would not experience eternity the same. I'm a free agent, Willow, and I only tell you what I know. I did not know about your death, or the nightmares, until you became the Red Valkyrie for real by shutting down the Hellmouth.

Willow, still perturbed, calmed down a bit. "Then what is my point? Why do they keep sending horrors and death after me? Why can't I just be allowed to live with my family in peace while we try to find a new home?"

Janna frowned in frustration. "To be fair, you're seeking out these troubles half the time. Oregon, Arizona and Texas are all places your group were aiming. You might not have chosen Oregon yourself but if you knew what was coming, would you have let Tara go off alone?" Willow shook her head immediately. "And, Ella says that there is no rest for you until your work is done. And it's only halfway done, apparently."

Willow's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Ella? She's here? Can I talk to her?" Janna shook her head again. "Fine. What is it that I'm only halfway done with and what do I need to know?"

Janna stood tall, her back straight. "First off, she reminded me of my first message from her. _'Earth shall be riven, as will the over-heaven.'_ After that, she says that Rimfrost is here and Fimbulvetr is coming soon. She says that while your group have unlocked the Aspect of Plague and the Aspect of War, there's still the Aspect of Excess and the Aspect of Magic left to unleash before you can take part of the Twilight of the Gods. You all must become the _Caller of the Aspects._ "

Willow looked to the ground, despondent. She knew what those words meant. "Anything else."

Janna disappeared and a faint echo of a chorus filled the air.

_Brothers will fight and kill each other_  
_Sisters' children will defile kinship_  
_It is harsh in the world, whoredom rife_  
_An axe age, a sword age, shields are riven_  
_A wind age, a wolf age, before the world goes headlong_  
_No man will have mercy on another_

_It sates itself on the life-blood of fated men_  
_Paints red the powers' homes with crimson gore_  
_Black become the sun's beams in the summers that follow_  
_Weathers all treacherous, what dreams may come._


	11. July 9, 2003. 10 miles outside Austin, Texas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cowgirls, Check-Ins and Cultists

"I told you nothing good would come from this, Tara. I told you! Dawnie, didn't I tell you all?"

Dawn didn't answer, she and Faith were too busy trying to catch a breath after laughing for ten minutes straight. They were both covered in patches of black paint as they sat by the wall of the barn just below one of the six crosses they had painted on the walls of the building.

"Sweetie, I had no idea this would happen. I had never even heard of a Brook Horse before tonight."

Willow muttered to herself as she stretched her sore back.

"Go for a midnight ride, they said. It'll be romantic, they said. Horsies are not dangerous, they said. Horses don't enjoy the taste of juicy Willowy arms, they said."

Tara tried to lessen the grumpiness of her partner and smiled apologetically.

"Well, to be fair, the horse didn't actually take a bite out of you. He just took you for a little ride."

"Just a little ride? I was stuck on the hellbeast for almost two hours until Dawnie found out how to get me free!"

Faith managed to calm down her laughing hysteria and interrupted.

"Hold on a moment. Why didn't you just magic yourself off, Red?"

Dawn calmed down as well and the three women looked at Willow inquisitively.

"Err, because, uhhh..." She stammered, just now realizing that she was too panicked during the wild ride to even consider the option. "Because I was far too sore to think straight! I didn't think you could get this achey in your butt by riding, how was I supposed to know?"

"Actually, Sweetie, there was that time that resulted in us getting a noise violation fine from the RA in sophomore year..."

The laughter from the other girls continued for long enough for Willow to calm down. Tara was a bit disappointed though, she had prompted and prodded Willow for a long time before she had agreed to try to overcome her 'horsey phobia' and try a romantic midnight ride with her and she knew that it was not going to happen again for at least five years. She made a mental note to cancel their plans for a visit to the Austin Aquarium; with Willow's luck they'd probably encounter a cursed frog demon that feed on red haired witches.

After cleaning up the stable, as was arranged with the farmer beforehand, and paid the fine for their ritual painting on the barn to banish the Brook Horse, they went back to the pickup and continued to their hotel in Austin. There they could rest up and start looking for the rogue Slayer in the area that has been killing off demons, vampires and even humans who were seen socializing with any of them.

It was Dawn who got them in planning mode after a couple of miles when she realized that none of the passengers were sleeping.

"So, how much have we managed to gather on this missing Slayer?"

Willow yawned, her head resting in Tara's lap as they relaxed in the back seat of the truck.

"Well, we know she's been active since only a couple of days after we activated her. She's five-foot-eleven, of latino ethnicity with long black hair and green eyes according to police reports. She started in Los Angeles and made quite the mark until the cops put out an APB on her, suspected of several murders that disappearances. After that we got similar reports from Phoenix, Dallas and now Austin where she's been active for quite some time."

"Why do you think she has stayed here so long, sweetie? I mean, we've known about her since the end of May and she seems to still be active according to your contact in the Council."

Willow shrugged so Faith spoke up instead. "Because she's out of resources."

"Whaddya mean, Fay?" Dawn didn't take her eyes off the road even as she followed the conversation.

"She's most likely poor, maybe even homeless." Faith looked out the window as the suburbs of Austin started to overtake the empty landscape. "She strikes out at everything and everyone that she perceive to be a threat, to have let her down. She was violent to the Watcher's who tried to contact her, right? I'd say she will not buck to authority but rather strike out, violently, at any attempt to rein her in. She'll need positive reinforcement and an alternative, now limitations and punishment."

The group stayed quiet. They all knew why Faith had accepted this 'job', how much her soul ached in sympathy for the suspected girl as she saw herself in the same position just five years earlier. Nobody would probe her for it, they knew her pride would just make her joke it away and get defensive.

"Faithy, do you think it's any of the Sunnydale survivors? Or do you think she already knew of the Underworld before she was activated and just waited for a possibility to strike back?"

Faith shrugged from the passenger seat.

"No clue, T. It does sound like one or two of 'our' girls but big cities like LA got enough problems that in the projects you'll be more likely to know of the uglies than not, especially if you're a street rat."

Willow had to sit up to shift the pressure on her back before it got too sore on one side.

"What should we do to find her? Austin's big and the reports we've gotten all speak of a random spread of incidents all over the projects and campus areas, and that's just the attacks we know of."

"Oh! I know! I got it!" Dawn practically bounces in her seat, making the car rattle a little bit as she accidently turned the wheel a bit too much. "We'll sing!"

The three older women looked at her like she had grown a second head.

"We'll sing for help!" The confusion didn't fade. "I mean, Lorne's in town for some consulting gig with an old friend of his. We spoke on the phone a week ago and he should be going home the day after tomorrow. We'll visit his place tomorrow and get his help to find the Slayer."

The others murmured in agreement as they understood the plan and silence fell for a few minutes as they approached the motel they had booked. While Dawn was looking for a parking spot Faith suddenly spoke up.

"Wait, if you knew Lorne would be here, why didn't you tell us before?"

Dawn shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, he didn't think that we'd make it to Austin in time before he returned to LA so I didn't want to get our hopes up. We've been making such good time though, it just slipped my mind until now that we'd actually be in the city at the same time as he would!" Her voice gradually quieted as she realized her mistake.

Willow opened the door and stretched her legs after Dawn turned off the ignition. "Don't worry Dawnie, it's a good surprise and no harm no foul. You don't have to report in calls to friends, we were just surprised that's all. Right, Faith?"

Willow and Tara started to dismount the bags from the covered truck bed, dividing them in the usual two piles for their rooms. When Faith didn't answer for a minute, they both turned to her and Dawn, afraid that they'd be angry and tired and refusing to talk. They calmed down quickly when they saw that the mouths of their friends were just preoccupied elsewhere.

  
***

  
"Missus Madison, I hope you understand why we've called for you again?"

She mousy witch offered a wicked grin.

"Obviously, High Priest. We just found out the idiots have arrived."

The hooded vampire nodded approvingly.

"Good. Are you all set for the trap? The Blasphemer must not avoid the crusade of the Order of the Worthy."

She shook her head and waved him off.

"No, it's all cool. We'll take care of them, we just need to ensure a few final details and then we're good to go. Once they're stuck you'll be shooti-, biting fish in a barrel!"

The High Priest groaned. He hated dealing with human assets, especially those as disrespectful and arrogant as the witch in front of him, but one had to work with the tools the Unholy One had gifted them.

" _Fine._ Go and get your husband and finalize the trap. We will suffer no insolence or failure, remember that. You get the Blasphemer alive and the other three are yours to do with as you wish."

"No failure coming here, nope. We're doing this and we're ending this for good. They'll never see it coming. You just ensure that the insane Slayer has no reason to leave for the next two days and they'll be too busy trying to help the dumb bitch to see what's coming up behind them."

Without waiting for an answer, she shimmered out of view of the vampiric cult leader to finish the preparations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brook Horse:  
> https://imgur.com/Gn2iqQr


	12. July 10, 2003, Austin Texas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anachronistic Songs, Empathic Demon and Empathic People.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you might have noticed, bit slower now with the updates. In my defence, I did 100k words and four stories in two weeks and needed both mental and physical pause but I'm now willing to get back in the saddle. Thanks for staying put and having patience!

_"...let the internet infiltrate all my dreams_   
_So what do I want? Want now?_   
_To exercise my right to be hostile and drop trou_   
_Hey, you, get off that cloud_   
_You don't know what that technology allows_

_I don't wanna weigh it out, don't wanna be more patient_   
_Don't want a bank account charging me for paper statements_   
_Don't want no ancient astrology stopping me_   
_From boarding the spaceship once it gets to our colony cause_

_I could mock a killingbird without dropping a single word_   
_I'd flip the middle finger till he's stuffing in the herb_   
_My catapult becomes a death wing_   
_To a red phone in the west wing, y'all are soon to fall_

_All I ever wanted was space_   
_Cause all I ever wanted was space_   
_Cause all I ever wanted was space_   
_Cause all I ever wanted was the place she feared most!"_

Willow stepped down from the stage, red faced and tipsy, after finishing in the middle of a squeaky-voiced and oddly toned rendition of one of her favourite songs. It had taken a large amount of coaxing from Dawn and Tara to even get her to consider doing a set on the karaoke machine. It'd all been for naught, however, if Faith hadn't spent the entire evening discreetly spiking Willow's rather tame drinks in order to loosen her inhibitions.

It worked, in a way. After Tara and Dawn each had done their songs, Willow actually joined the crowd in the chorus of Faith's rendition of the Dropkick Murphys 'Rose Tattoo' and that's when the Massachusetts native knew that Willow had gotten in the mood. The witch's stage fright was usually so strong that she even managed to keep almost song-free during the infamous Sunnydale invasion of the demon Sweet. She did manage to get through most of her song but eventually her phobia overcame her inebriation and she used the chorus to end prematurely.

"That went great, Sweetie. I knew you'd do great."

"Yeah Will, I don't know what you're worried about. You did way better than my Cardigans cover."

"I don't know. Horndog would've probably done a lot better with 'I Touch Myself' or 'Bad Touch' but considering the material, I'd say she came out of it pretty good."

Willow shot an insincerely angry glare at Faith, appreciating the honest compliment as it was. She downed a waiting shot of whiskey that Faith had promised her as a reward for her performance and made a grimace as she felt the liquid burn her as it went down the throat.

"Hey there, Will-o-witch, I hope you're not that mad to see your number one fan!"

Dawn was up and hugging Lorne before Willow realized that she had accidently sent her frown at their old friend. Tara smiled in greeting at their old temporary roommate during the end of the War of the First.

"Actually, I think that slot has been taken for quite some time, sweetie."

He beamed a smile at her and went in for the hug.

"And you know I'm even greener than usual in envy for it, Tarebear." He went for quick hug with the still-sitting Willow. "I'll take it in stride though since it mean I'll keep getting package deals with bonus gifts each time we meet. And this time, none of our friends are trying to kill us!" He nodded at Faith who returned the greeting with a smirk. "Well, for most of us that's true, at least. Sorry, Will-o-witch."

Willow froze as she realized his implication and then buried her face in her palms, her shoulders slumped and speech turned sullen with no trace of the alcohol she'd imbibed.

"Who is it this time? Is Angelus back? Or did I piss someone else big-timey again?"

Tara put her left hand between Willow's shoulder blades and started to move it in circles, hoping the familiar motion would calm Willow's already frayed nerves.

"I don't know exactly, to be honest. All I know it's an old friend, from long before it went bad, and the friend got friends. And the friend want to hurt you bad. The buddy is hidden in black sludge though, that's why I can't really see who it is."

Tara looked at the demon with concern. "Your reading still isn't back to normal after fake Cordelia's sabotage?"

He shook his head grimly. "Nope. I'm recovering though, the thoroughly disgusting potion regiment you put me on is doing wonders for my recovery. I hope you don't mind that I have a couple of old contact looking for a way to make in a more Seabreezey form, just to make sure my tasting buds won't defect from the rest of my body."

She laughed and Willow's ennui loosened its' grip somewhat. Few things made her as relaxed as the genuine laugh of her lover.

Dawn had by now returned to her seat and a server handed her a drink, nodding at Lorne as he did so.

"So, Lorney, not to be ungrateful for you violating the drinking age laws for us but you did promise Willow, and us, that you'd do a reading if we sang."

His demeanor fell and he sat on a chair a server provided just a second earlier. He wasn't a native here but obviously had some history with the club. The people who worked there and the owner knew of his talents and tastes, providing whatever he needed before he ever had to ask for it. Willow was a bit curious about it, not knowing of any telepathic abilities inherent in the Deathwok Clan's breed of demons.

"I'm sorry Master Key, but I don't have the best news or answers for you. Actually, I don't have any answers so I'm gonna Trebek it up for you. Here it goes:"

Lorne started by turning to Faith.

"Were you satisfied with everything the way it is, were you stuck in the conformity of minding your own biz? Does a confrontation with the old make you want to turn and run and do you think about the things you like to have undone? Are you scared of looking back at all the things you've said and do you keep the words you'd like to say inside your head?"

The empath demon continued as he locked eyes with the sullen redhead.

"Well nothing changes by itself without some kind of clash, and there's always gonna be some barriers to smash. Are you scared to be, scared of what you see? Scared to change, scared to rearrange? There's a chance that you never take the chances you get. If you never move ahead you'll keep on looking back so the only thing you're doing is just filling out the cracks."

Lorne picked up his tumbler and raised it for a toast with Dawn.

"Another coat of artificial paint won't change a thing unless the whole foundation gets a brand new coloring. What is there to lose except some insecurity? You replace it with Faith to not be scared of what you see 'cos every little risk you take breaks down another door, the biggest chance that you can take is just to let it fall."

His glass clinked with Dawn's as he finished and then turned to Tara as the server provides her with a drink identical to his own.

"I'm seeing stars and constellations; seeing warning signals in the Universe's dashboard they're all saying to push through the pain. There's a chance that you never take the chances you get, there's a chance you haven't taken any chances yet. Listen, a lie is just a lie if you believe that they'll believe it, otherwise it's some sly legal speak so we keep our secrets. In fact, you have to slay the dragon they were chasing for the warts to disappear. Dissect the frogs; cut through the fog and do your thing and you'll end up conquering."

The group sat in the uncomfortable silence, each glancing at the others nervously as they kept shifting gazes. Eventually, the silence was broken by the next customer grabbing the microphone. He was a small guy in a suit at least two sized too big, clearly uncomfortable where he was standing.

"So, uh, I, err, was asked to come up here and sing this song. So, here is, uh," He read the card in front of him again to ensure he didn't get it wrong. "Which Side Are You On by Billy Bragger, uuhm, Bragg."

As soon as he started on the first song, Lorne shot up like a bullet. He waved towards a guard standing by the bar and signalled a stabbing motion. The guard acted immediately and flipped a switch.

It happened fast and by the time the singer had croaked his way to the first line of the chorus, the rest understood why.

_"Which side are you on, boys?"_

A sound that resembled the distant noise of an airplane starting hummed in the back of their mind as a dark-haired girl fell down from the roof, landing on their table and sending Lorne tumbling backwards with a brutal headbutt.

_"Which side are you on?"_

The girl continued her attack by kicking Faith in the face, sending her backwards before she could get her bearings. The background noise continued to rise.

_"Which side are you on, boys?"_

She grabbed Tara by the throat and threw her at Dawn who was still in the process of drawing her spear shaft from its holster, both tumbling towards the nearest table in a chaotic mess. The sound continued.

_"Which side are you on?"_

The girl punched Willow in the throat and then withdrew a dagger, previously hidden inside her leather jacket, and moved towards Lorne with a blank and emotionless expression. She jumped, dagger held high, and the background noise was about to reach its crescendo just as she stopped mid-air.

She looked around nervously as each of her would-be victims got to their feet. Willow was still standing but was forced to use the table to not collapse as she was coughing for air, her forehead and cheeks damp with sweat and tears.

"Sol-" Willow coughed. "Soledad!" The coughing continued but she got the assailants' attention just as the background noise stopped and was replaced with a hum that was only audible for those touched by the supernatural. Lorne glared at the slayer, his grim expression signalling that he was done playing nice 

"Hey miss murderous. I don't know what your deal is against me but if you really hate the cover charge that much you could just have tried sneaking in peacefully, no need to kill the guests."

She groaned as she continued to fight against the magic confinement.

"Hey Solo?" Soledad turned to Faith. "You're currently being held by the most powerful witch in the country. Throat Punching is fun, I know, but she doesn't need her hands or mouth to turn you inside out." Soledad turned towards Willow, red-eyed from the coughing but defiantly glaring at her. "Red here is actually keeping you safe by holding you. You see, if you had come through the door you'd know that the sound we all just heard? It's the sound of the anti-violence magic this place has employed."

Lorne nodded, his usual jovial mood seemingly back but a sharp undertone remained as he spoke.

"And this isn't like my place in LA. You've heard of it, I would wager, since you're from the big city. Well, this place here actually return the damage to the attacker that they tried to inflict on others. So, if you were to try to cut my throat? Well, not only would I be okay but you'd be bleeding out on the floor. In fact, I'd be okay anyway but that's a different story and I really don't want you to ruin my suit."

Dawn intervened as she and Tara stood up and dusted themselves off.

"So Soledad. I'd love to say that it's nice to see you but if you are going to try to kill your old allies, it's going to be an extra short visit. Especially since you just attacked Will's girlfriend in the process."

Soledad turned back to Willow who remained locked in place, the magic affecting them both as the anti-violence protection had kicked in. She still hadn't said a word when Willow finally spoke up.

"So, Soledad. I am going to let you, and by extension me for that matter, down so we can talk. If you try anything, you'll kill yourself and none of us want that. If you try to run, I'll teleport us both into space and then come back alone. I can survive there for the two seconds it takes for me to go back alone, can you survive there for the eternity it'll take you to get back home?"

The Slayer shook her head and let go of her weapon. After Faith took the dagger and started inspecting it with a poorly-hidden impressive look, Willow released the magic. The Slayer landed on her feet, hands held high in a disarming stance, while Tara moved to Willow to help her to a chair. She had kept it hidden but doing magic while gasping for breath and being magically restricted by herself had taken more concentration than they'd known at the start. Still, she managed to buy enough time for Soledad to be restricted by the club's protections so it worked out in the long run.

"So, Solo, it's time for us to talk about you, us, the nature of demons and the future. You got a wicked track record when it comes to cleaning out nests and taking down some of the ugliest of the bads but you can't be taking out those humans who happen to be around demons, same with people like Lorne who couldn't hurt a fly if he wanted to."

Soledad glared daggers at her before briefly throwing a glance at Lorne as he was talking with the guard from before.

"That one is not people, it's a demon."

Faith sighed as she ran the dagger into the table.

"D? This is gonna take a while, I think we're going to need more to drink."

Dawn stood up, holstered the spear shaft and nodded before heading to the bar.

  
***

  
The discussion between Faith and Soledad continued for hours. One hour from closing, the other three girls went back to their motel. One hour after closing, the last of the cleaning staff turned off the protective field while Lorne took a nap in a nearby loveseat, willing to spend the night to ensure the wayward Slayer got a roadmap back to redemption. Fortunately, after many hours of long discussions of morality, redemption, mythology and individuality Soledad had become a lot more receptive to a different future than the short and bloody one she had resigned herself to.

"So Faith, let's say I'd be willing to adapt, what is there left for me? I'm a wanted woman in four states that I know of and that's not counting the numerous Underworld groups that have put out kill orders on me in revenge for my actions."

Faith shrugged with a smirk before finishing her glass of milk, having stayed away from alcohol once Soledad attacked their party.

"Actually, not really. They've never identified you and your description has always been vague enough that once you are in the wind they'd never be able to trace you."

"But where'd I go? I didn't even have a home before your people collected me before the Battle of the Hellmouth."

"Hey, we didn't. We're not part of B's little Council. We are, in fact, far from aligned with them. We got a couple of friends in the organization but right now you can be sure there's not anyone in the world that hates me as much as B is doing right now."

"Why is that? She was angrier than I ever saw her on the ride back to LA, I thought your group used to be close to her."

"We were. Or actually, the others were. Red was her best friend for years, even taking care of her lil sis with T while B was in the grave for a summer."

"How about that last girl?"

"That's the little sis, Dawn. The little sis that we got emancipated and that I've been having wicked fun with for a year. You see why she's not a huge fan of me, on top of my whole 'try to murder them all' four years ago."

"Oh. How about that red haired witch, Willy?"

"Willow. But yeah, they were best friends until Red got addicted and circled the drain. She drove away the love of her life, that's T, and then hurt D. After that, B and her friends openly discussed stuff like lobotomy, control chips and magical bindings to remove her ability to use any magic."

"What the fuck? I thought they said they were better than the old council?"

"Yeah. They are better but not good, way I see it. Remember though, they were afraid. Red is pretty scary when she gets her mojo on, what she did to you earlier is but a fraction of her potential."

"The other girls said the two witches were responsible for closing the Hellmouth, that'd be her and the girlfriend then?"

"Yeah, that's right. Those two together are scary. And just a year and a half ago, if you had attacked T like you did today you'd be lucky if you ended up with only your limbs broken. Red is pretty protective of her. But anyway, as you can imagine she panicked when they discussed her fate as she wasn't even there. So she ran, lived a few nights on the street and then starved for a couple of months in a hotel room. She was found first by D, then T and then by B and her pet vampire."

"Pet vampire? That's the Angelus guy?"

"Nah, Angel's wicked legit. Spike was just evil with a shock collar, basically. He's dead now, me and Red got him. That was later though. Once B and fangboy found her, she ran and hid in a university closet with nothing but the clothes on the back. She managed to reach me in prison though and asked for help so I, well, helped."

"What, you got parole just like that?"

"Nah. I just left. They tried to stop me, they failed. Then we blackmailed the old Council to give me a pardon and that's why I'm free now. But me and T stopped B from capturing Red again and that's when B basically banned both witches from her home for a time. We started over in my apartment and D came over and spent more time with us than home because B was pretty gone in the head and spent all her time with fangboy."

"That recovery from death really messed her up, didn't it?"

"Yeah. In her defense, she was unwittingly torn from heaven. It was her own damn fault that she didn't tell her friends and refused their help, choosing instead to shutting herself away from them and confiding only in a vampire that isolated her from her friends without her ever realizing it in order to screw her brains out."

"Jesus."

"Yeah. But then he killed a guy once his restrictions were removed so me and Red had to kill him. We didn't kill him for that, actually. We killed him because he tried to rape B and then tried to kill us. B never really forgot us for that and that led to the two camps you saw when you arrived in Sunnydale."

"Wait, she's mad for that? You'd think-"

"Look, B is pretty messed up. It doesn't excuse everything she's done but she's emotionally traumatized, all of us are but she's been a slayer for over eight years no. She got huge issues but the problem here was that she couldn't stop making her issues into everyone's issues. She's seen her father abandon her, her mother die and she died twice. Then her sister and former best friend abandoned her, in her view, to her oldest living nemesis. But what really grind her gears is that we're happy. I mean, we're all pretty boned in the head as the child soldiers we are but we're in happy and stable relationships and are willingly traveling the country to find a place to call home. She is straddled with responsibility with her friends either dead, no longer friends or so distant that they barely talk anymore. Her former love of her life, Angel, is with her but after his son died none of them really have that spark anymore. They're trying to help each other but are both too damaged to do so."

"Damn. I'm glad I sent their last recruiter packing with his tail between his legs."

"You didn't hurt him? Who was it, by the way?"

"Nah, I was just very firm that I didn't want to see anyone else from their Council. It was that one-eyed dude, Xena was it?"

"Hah! Nah, that's Xander. I'm glad you didn't hurt him. I've done that and I regret it every day. He's also Red's oldest friend, despite the crap between them, and she probably wouldn't forgive you if you'd done something permanent to him."

"What's with that anyway? I heard they used to be close, one of the girls had a huge crush on him and talked all the time about his history with the older 'Scoobies'."

"Well, we kinda killed his ex-fiancee when she went back to being a demon and tried to kill us all."

"His ex who went BACK to... Okay, I'm gonna need more alcohol for this, aren't I?"

"Hah, probably. It's a really long story. Hold on, my phone's buzzing."

She picked up the phone, saw the called ID and answered with a grin.

"Hey D, it's a bit late for a booty call isn't it?"

Soledad saw her demeanor change instantly and she sat up straight.

"Okay D, here's what you do. Pack your stuff, get their stuff too, and put it in the truck. We all meet up outside the club once I've gotten them back, okay?"

Soledad reached for the dagger, still stuck in the table where Faith left it hours ago, and waited for the OK to retrieve it.

"D? D? D-Dog? DAWN! Calm down. Get the stuff, get the truck and get here. I'll bring the witches, we're all done here anyway and the Texas scene is getting old. It's gonna be fine, okay?"

She turned away from Soledad and added in a whisper.

"Love you, see you soon."

Faith shut down the phone and nodded her approval as Soledad retrieved the blade.

"Cops took the witches on bull charges. It seems T talked Red down from getting away from the cops with magic but I'm not Red, I'm not gonna be pussywhipped into staying put. Something is very off and I'm not willing to wait to see what's going on."

"Where did you stay and how long ago were they taken?"

"Just two blocks down. D said they were just about to be put into a patrol car by the boys when she called."

"I know the place. Come, I got just the place where we can intercept them, I've kept track of the cop patrol routes and know which way they'd go."

"You sure about this? I realize this seems stupid as hell after our very long talk."

Soledad beamed a genuine grin in response, one happier than Faith had ever seen from her before.

"This here is just the right way to go from hurting monsters to helping people."

"Good show and consider our fifth seat in the Lesbomobile to be yours. HEY LORNE!" The empath demon shot up in response. "We're going out to get the girls, the boys got rowdy. Thanks for all the help, I don't know if we'll meet again but I hope we do. Say hi to Texas when you see her!"

Lorne didn't get the chance to answer as the two Slayers sprinted out through the front door.

"Wait, Lesbomobile? I'm straight as a ruler?"

"That's why you get the middle seat."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, that first song is from Sage Francis. A large white songsmith. Just imagine it's not a rap song, text worked really well here okay?
> 
> Also, I kind of ripped most of Lorne's stuff from the song Chances by Clawfinger. I was listening to it a while ago and it just fit perfectly for his vague readings.
> 
> Also(x2) did my first scene that's almost all dialogue, with only the most minimum of descriptions. I hope it was understandable. I usually go with more descriptors but with only two people and a faster-than-usual repertoire it felt exhausting to add filler in between every other line that didn't really do much for the flow or scene. If I'm wrong, please say so and I'll stay away from that format in the future.


	13. July 11, 2003. Austin, Texas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Corrupt Cops, High Stakes and a Standard Perpetuity Clause.

"You have NO darn right to keep us here. We haven't done ANYTHING illegal! Stop this damn car or I'll MAKE you stop the car you cowardly little shits!"

Willow was angry. Incredibly angry. Not 'implode the brain of your former drug dealer with an idle thought' angry but rapidly approaching that state of mind.

The night had gone so well, too. Sure, she hated the karaoke but Faith had managed to cool down Soledad and were making great strides when Tara suggested the rest of them were to retire for the evening. And they did without issue. Tara had mentioned to her on the way back to the motel that she felt something dark in the area but none of them found anything after a quick scan-and-search so they continued on.

After saying goodnight to Dawn, they had gone to bed. Thirty minutes after that, they were trying to sleep. Twenty minutes after that, at an ungodly four AM, the police stormed the room. Willow almost lashed out at them by instinct but a calming hand on her shoulder and a heartfelt plea calmed her down. Which was a good thing because this wasn't like in Pacifica, these cops were human and alive.

Willow hated it but she trusted Tara above everything else. She let them take the pair away in handcuffs and she saw Dawn peeking out her window through closed blinders with rage in her eyes. Tara had seen the look on the tall teen as well and shook her head sadly, leading Dawn to stand down. No point in letting another one of them get in trouble, especially since someone needed to contact Faith and let her know what was going on.

But the cops refused to tell them why they were arrested. They were IDed and permitted to put on some shoes(and boy were Willow glad they had taken the time to don their jammies before falling asleep), were subjected to numerous insults and slurs and then put into a patrol car to be taken to jail. No Miranda rights, nothing.

"Either you tell us why you're arresting us you darn pigsticker or you are going to regret it!"

The two uniformed officers in the front seats silently glanced at each other with a knowing look.

"Sweetie, please don't do that. It's only going to get worse."

Willow's rage abated, making way for fear, as she looked into Tara's eyes and saw the calm acceptance of their situation.

"Better listen to that girl of yours, nose. We already got you both down for violation of the state's anti-sodomy laws. You'd do well not to add resisting arrest or threatening a police officer to that rap sheet."

Willow turned pale before shifting into a pink hue, growling in anger.

"Hey! I might have spent the last few months on a road trip but I heard of Lawrence vs Texas, that law was ruled unconstitutional a month ago! You got nothing to charge us with you stupid... poophead!"

The officer in the passenger seat scoffed.

"Yeah, we heard. We got orders from our ell-tee that today was an exception, apparently he found a loophole and once his friend who manage the motel called in to report about deviant behavior we were sent out."

Tara shrunk without a word, cowering behind her hair in a way she hadn't done for almost a year. She bowed her head and stared at her knees and Willow could see her regressing to the self-loathing that she had been forced to grow up with her entire life. Willow had promised her that she would never again have to be ashamed for who she is and right now, Willow felt she was failing her. In order to avoid a panic attack of her own, this arrest being of a completely different nature than she had ever experienced in her past, she turned her focus to get control of the situation. She needed to form a plan to come out scot-free.

"So you're so worried about two young girls that you send four patrol cars to escort us to jail where you'll get nothing except a notice that we're to be let out, only a notice from a lawyer that you're going to be sued into oblivion will remain in our place?"

The driver turned to his partner for a moment before responding.

"Don't think so, dyke. I trust the ell-tee, he's really good at finding retroactive reasons for arrest. I mean, you're about to bail on your room charges and just leave all your stuff in that room, that's fraudulent behavior. And then you threatened us just now. And I am pretty sure you both resisted arrest when we tried to put you in the cruiser, that's potential prison time!"

"Don't forget that since you and your nose riding bitch seem to fancy women, it doesn't seem fair to put you with the other ladies we got booked for the night. Would be plenty of risk for you both assaulting your fellow inmates and we can't have that." The car slowed to a stop as a garbage truck was blocking the way. The driver turned around so they would not mistake his obvious threat. "Gonna have to put you with the other nighters who have the same taste, won't we? No need to risk all the other girls."

Tara whimpered and lifted her knees to her shin, turning into a ball in the back seat. Willow felt that it was enough, she could handle a lot but they would not touch Tara. No-one would. She focused her powers and the cuffs fell behind her, unlocked with a quick cantrip, but she left her hands behind her back while looking for the best way out.

She looked out the front window and knew the way. The garbage truck looked like it was waiting at a traffic light but she saw that the engine was turned off, someone had left it there. Someone very angry, strong and not friendly to what she liked to call 'the boys'.

Willow moved her hands to the front and the shocked driver stared at her, wide-eyed. Tara did as well, fear in her eyes signaling that she thought Willow would cross a line that she couldn't turn back from.

The driver shouted. "What the fuck? How'd the dyke get free?"

The other officer never got the chance to respond before both front doors of the cruiser were torn off the hinges and were discarded. The cops were pulled out and Willow grinned as she saw both Faith and Soledad disarming them and discarding their handguns and batons.

Tara experienced the next minute in a blur, still dazed from the last few minutes before. She saw Willow uncuffing her and helping out of the cruiser. She saw their purple truck coming around a corner and Dawn opening the passenger door and then driving away, explaining hurriedly that they'll meet up with the rest outside the club they had visited earlier that night.

She soon collapsed from stress and exhaustion while Dawn nervously waited in the driver's seat for the rest of the group.

  
  


* * *

  
Willow watched the truck drive away with a sigh of relief. The protections and strength of Tara and Dawn would have normally been of great help but Tara was in no way equipped to fight at this moment and Dawn would be able to get her away better than anyone else at the moment.

She turned around and started to hover. The officers from the other three patrol cruisers started to dismount and pulled out their revolvers and pistols while the Slayers dispatched with her 'escorts' and their handguns. Before anyone got a shot off, Willow's eyes glowed bright red and the barrels melted almost instantly.

It took the police a few seconds to realize their guns weren't useable anymore and they holstered the handguns, as of a single mind, and charged with their batons at the two earthbound Slayers.

The melee was fast but brutal. Willow didn't know for sure but suspected that Faith had given Soledad a 'no kill'-order before they triggered the ambush but couldn't help but feel a sick kind of pleasure as the cops were disposed with broken arms and legs, ensuring they'd stay down once fallen.

"You okay up there, Red? Shieldy gave us a call so we had to act fast."

She replied to Faith with a silent nod. "The girls are waiting for us, aren't they?"

Soledad spoke up and Willow didn't miss the obvious fear in her eyes. It was obvious she did not have much experience with magic users. "They're safe. They cleaned out the rooms so we're all good to go, okay?"

Willow offered an emotionless smile to the newcomer. They hadn't actually discussed if they were going to offer Soledad a seat in the truck but she knew it was a possibility and had no problems accepting it. A new voice in the vicinity preempted her reply.

"I'm afraid that resolution is not in the cards, Willow. We got much bigger plans for you."

All three turned to the newcomer. Willow recognized the small man in an elaborate robe adorned with icons and symbols both religious and subcultural, his dye job black hair and goth makeup bringing back old High School memories long forgotten of the small makeshift coven he formed with Amy and Willow in senior year.

"Michael? Michael Czajak? What the frilly heck are you doing here? I haven't seen you in years!"

The small guy made a poor attempt at an intimidating laugh and extended his hands.

"It's Madison these days, Willow. I'm here to deliver that, err, was it slutbomb you used to call her? I'm to deliver her to the Order of the Worthy. For you we have much grander plans, you are but the payment for services rendered."

Faith realized that Soledad had disappeared into the shadows and feared that she had been set up. She moved into a defensive stance as her subconscious started tingling. They were surrounded by the dead.

"Since you prevented the delivery I had to bring the customer to you instead. Say hello to the Order of the Worthy!"

Over two dozen vampires sprung from the shadows and faith drew a stake from her denim jacket, jumping into the fight with a ferocious growl. Willow was alone, separated from Faith and the missing Soledad. She noticed that her old Warlock friend had started to block her levitation, forcing her to the ground in seconds. Her eyes flared up and she hissed out the next incantation.

_"Veddr!"_

The batons from the disarmed officers suddenly caught air and started to circle around her in a miniature whirlwind, too fast for the naked eye to keep track of the individual instruments. Just as she was about to be overwhelmed by the approaching vampires she released the batons and they were thrown towards her assailants at blunt stakes.

By sheer force they pierced rib cage after ribcage and soon the air was thick with dust and rage. Michael tried to throw up a spell to facilitate escape when a pair of gloved hands gripped his head and quickly snapped his neck.

Soledad stepped out from behind him with a grim expression and a layer of dust coating her shoulders. Wherever she had been when she moved to flank their attackers; she had faced resistance and obviously plenty of it. She opened her mouth to say something to the pair when she suddenly coughed up blood. Willow and Faith ran up to her as she collapsed, hemorrhaging blood from every visible orifice while she thrashed around in panic.

"RED! What is going on? Can you stop it?"

"I-I don't know what it is. I don't know what I can do."

"You must do something. Who did this?"

Willow quickly scanned their surroundings but found nobody else. She did see a dark magic artifact from the body of her old classmate. She opened his robe and saw an amulet around his chest that emitted an unnatural black glow.

"Shit."

"What is it? What is doing this?"

Soledad suddenly stopped thrashing and was still, her dead eyes heralding the conclusion that both of them saw coming.

"It's an old retribution artifact. Whoever kill the owner is killed in return. She never had a chance, she was dead before Michael's body hit the ground."

Faith threw her stake in anger, impaling the windshield of a nearby patrol car, and started pacing back and forth in anger as she spewed forth a litany of curses both mundane and exotic.

"Faith? We need to move. We're going to be wanted by the cops for this. We need to go NOW!"

  
  


* * *

  
_"...and the Houston PD has released the names of three out of the four suspects for the violent attack of the police that led to the deaths of two civilian bystanders. The main perpetrators have been identified as Willow Rosenberg and Tara Maclay, both last registered inhabitants of Sunnydale, California. They escaped the scene with the help of an unidentified driver of a purple pickup truck that is registered to the last suspect, Faith Lehane. Lehane is a Boston native and known acquaintance of Rosenberg and Maclay and is a sentenced but pardoned murderer. Up until 18 months ago she was serving a 25-to-life sentence in California for the murder of Sunnydale deputy mayor Allen Finch before she was pardoned by governor Gray Davis._

_Numerous media outlets have tried to contact the governor's office for a statement on why they had let loose a violent and unstable criminal into the populace but-"_

Dawn shut off the truck's radio, falling back into her seat with a groan. The truck was still by the roadside truck stop with Faith a couple of yards away, silently working her way through a series of cigarettes, while Tara were curled up in the back seat. Willow was just finishing her work at magically changing their license plates to avoid immediate notice when the crushing silence became overwhelming.

"W-what can we do? Fay, where can we go?"

Faith said nothing, stoically staring out into the dark sky. Willow returned to the back seat of the car and put a blanket over her girl.

"We run. Dawnie, they tried to get us on trumped-up charges, on a law that was recently, and very famously, ruled unconstitutional. We leave Texas and never come back."

"Red, that's not gonna work. Once we fought back, we assaulted the boys. Once Solo and that goth moron died, we got pinned for double-murder after assaulting a bunch of cops and escaping custody. That's too big to just fly under the radar for a while, we can't just leave the state like that. It's not like we had a choice though, goth boy did mention he was delivering us to that fang cult anyway."

A quiet 'pop' caught their attention and a well-dressed woman suddenly appeared in their midst. Once Faith saw who she was she ditched her smoke and withdrew Soledad's dagger, ready to go for the throat.

"It's that lawyer bitch from LA, from Wolfram & Hart!"

"That's attorney bitch Lilah Morgan, thank-you-very-much. And I wish I could say it's nice to see you again, miss Lehane."

Willow jumped out of the truck and pulled out her telescopic baton while Dawn did the same with her spear shaft.

"Fay, you know this woman?"

"Yeah, she was one of the creeps who hired me to kill Angel back in the day. Schmucks paid me in advance, too."

"We still want that deposit back, you know? We are very disappointed with your job performance, Lehane."

"Tough titties, suit. Now scram off or I'll make sure you end up in a very shallow grave out here."

Lilah chuckled and shifted away some of the hair covering her left temple, showing a nasty bullet hole.

"Sorry, bit late for that. Your old friend Charles Gunn have been using his group of street rats to hunt down me and my colleagues, they got me two weeks ago. Quite effective really, done a lot more damage to us once they stopped believing in Angel's whole 'no killing or following up on your threats' deal. It's a shame, it was always so reliable how we could get to Angel and his friends and he never really was able to do much else but posture."

Willow glared at her, far too tired after the night's events to humor the lawyer.

"Yeah, he is a softie at times. Thing is, I'm not. Ask your old client Rack how I treat people who threaten me and mine. You might be some kind of zombie thing but I can still make you hurt before you die, for good this time."

"Sorry, Rosenberg. I'm not corporeal, just stuck with a Standard Perpetuity Clause that ensures I'll be on the beck and call for at the firm's behest for eternity. Always read the fine print, kids."

"What do you want," Dawn asked, her voice dripping with anger.

"Just to hire you all for some freelance work. Off the books, very profitable AND we'll be able to erase this entire mess completely."

"No." Tara sat up, still covered in her blanket.

"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth now, Maclay. We haven't ev-"

"NO!" She repeated.

"You heard T, get lost. You got nothing that we want."

Morgan smirked. "Really? I got something the authorities want though, like the name of your driver here."

Faith scoffed at her. "Go ahead, we'll be in Mexico before they can organize any kind of proper manhunt."

"Are all of you sure?" None of the girls gave her any potential bargaining space. "Alright, say goodbye to the life as free women in this country. Can't say I didn't warn you!"

The lawyer disappeared as quickly as she had arrived and Dawn turned to Faith with a mix of fear and frustration in her face.

"Why did you give away our plans like that? We'll never get past the border now!"

Faith holstered her dagger as she moved up and kissed Faith's forehead. "I didn't. What is there in Mexico for us? As you said, we'd never get to the border before they'll stop us but that's not what she'll tell the cops. We go north, it's time to reunite with some old friends who can help us out of the country and get us somewhere of our own choosing!"


	14. August 2, 2003. Cleveland, Ohio

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Late Goodbyes, Culture War and the Pack Alpha Myth

"They did? Oh Goddess, I'm so sorry."

Willow sat down at the end of the bed, her cellphone still attached to the charger kept her from pacing around as she was wont to do when in this nervous state. She instead started to fiddle with the hem of her grey tank top, her body's energies constantly seeking an outlet to give her some kind of control in a situation that had kept her on edge for the last three weeks.

"But they didn't arrest you or anything, right? They just asked you-"

She was interrupted by the other speaker. Tara didn't hear him but knew that he was agitated as he never was one of many words. She sat on the same bed as Willow, her back resting against the headboard as she waited anxiously for the resolution of the call.

"I see. Oz, I'm so very sorry. I know, I say that a lot and it's probably worth less than my good name these days but I am. I really am. We were set up and the cops threatened us and Faith and that poor Soledad girl helped us flee but it all went bad and Soledad killed Michael, you remember Michael from High School well he was in mine and Amy's wanna-be coven but he went bad and sent vampires after us and Soledad killed him and he killed her and it all went bad and now the police is after us and even little Dawnie oh Goddess I'm so sorry Oz."

She unplugged the cellphone mid-babble from the charger to enable her pacing instincts, her long purple skirt twisting and turning as she moved back and forth in the motel room. She had rented it under a false name but it was the kind of establishment where that was the norm, few wanted their own names attached to the bill. The motel clerk assumed that they were both closeted women with boyfriends who were cheating on their partners like most others of their customers. It was a cash-only establishment, something that fit the group fine as Willow had withdrawn everything they had to their names the day they fled from their police escort.

It was Faith's idea, she was the only one with real experience with running from the law. She was in charge of all planning in that field of expertise while Willow planned for magical protections to avoid detection. She was safe due to the charms cast on the Doll's Eye Crystal but Tara handled the actual casting of the abjurations to hide them from other kinds of magical scrying. Dawn was a bit put-out that she wasn't much help until Tara explained to her that if the other three failed in any way and they were cornered, it was all up to Dawn to quickly get them out of any jam. Willow and Tara could teleport but the power spent to bring others' with them was much worse than it was for Dawn whose innate Key powers let her bring anyone she touched with the simple offer in the form of a few drops of blood.

"I understand. You need to destroy that phone, it'll become a party line very soon since they're on to you. We'll keep these numbers, they're prepaid cards with no paper trail to us, and you got my encrypted e-mail. I'm sorry I got you into this mess Oz, I never wanted that to happen. Stay safe and keep your eyes out. Bye."

Willow had no way of proving it but she knew, in her very soul, that it was the last time she'd ever speak to him again. Another part of her life was gone. They had once been so close, he was his everything for over a year, but even after his betrayal and fumbled return they had remained distant friends. Their relationship never survived past the puppy-love stage, in both senses of the word, but their friendship survived years, loss, conflicts and distance.

It would not survive what was to come.

Willow put the phone on the nightstand and reattached it to the charger. Fifteen percent. It'd be full when they got back up in the morning as long as they weren't interrupted again.

It was the first night of sleep in an actual bed, disgusting as it may be, since the raid in Austin. Ever since, they'd been sleeping in the truck while parked by the side of small roads, hiding in the cover of the forests they drove through. They had kept to the small roads, making the trip north much longer than it should've been, but they were low on money and resources and were wanted criminals nationally. Lilah Morgan had enacted her threat and informed the police of Dawn's identity and now the four girls were media darlings, a double re-enactment of Thelma & Louise.

Their families had been interviewed by cops and media both. Tara's remaining family had done as expected and condemned them all with fire and brimstone, both for her homosexuality and her abandonment of family and tradition. Tara's cousin Beth showed unusual savvy and managed to twist the attention to get attention to the upcoming trial against Tara's father for fraud, a consequence of Dawn's destruction of the church, and became minor but recognizable players in the ongoing media culture war that had gained new intensity after the summer's constitutional rulings that invalidated the country's anti-sodomy laws.

The four women became unwilling players as well. The Austin PD's initial handling of the circumstances of their arrest put a spotlight on lingering homophobic biases following the changes in the law and when their backtracking displayed inconsistencies with the earlier reports people started questioning the events that led to the escapes and the deaths of two bystanders, one who had been later connected to a series of murders and disappearances.

The Rosenbergs handled the media attention differently. While both cooperated fully with the FBI and the DRI, even if they didn't know what federal branch they were connected to, Ira refused to give any credence to the accusations directed towards his daughter. He loudly proclaimed his support for Willow and her 'friends' and provided his legal expertise to lobbyist groups who wanted further examination into their arrest and the publishing of sealed records and recordings related to the events.

Sheila, on the other hand, had given up any pretense of maintaining a relationship with her daughter. She gave Willow no support and blamed her situation on her friends, both past and present, and announced that she was going to start clinical research in order to ensure other parents would never have to experience the shame and regret that she had by seeing her only daughter become a wanted criminal and vagrant. An image of Ira visibly rolling his eyes behind her back as she announced it to a gaggle of reporters and cameras became an overnight internet sensation.

Faith Lehane's father told the first interviewer that if anyone bothered him again about his dead daughter he'd shove their camera up their ass. No other reporters attempted a face-to-face meeting again.

Hank Summers was out of country and unavailable and never provided any comments. Buffy first politely refused to answer any questions, even once reporters started digging into her sealed(but leaked) criminal records of arson, suspicion of murder and other criminal acts. When they started to dig into the history, purpose and structure of her place of employment, however, her refusals got a lot more adamant and rarely failed to involve poorly-veiled threats.

As a result of their new notoriety Willow forged identity papers for both themselves and the truck, giving them some leeway in mobility, but any proper examination into their pasts would quickly expose them as fraudulent.

Tara had provided them with some security for the night, however, by not only putting up silent alarming wards but also passive barriers over all points of entry that excluded everyone outside their group. That ment that while they might have been found out they would at least not be waking up with handguns pointed towards them. It did not prevent them from keeping their belongings packed up and within an arm's reach at all times, though.

They did not think they would sleep easy though, comfort be damned.

"Sweetie? Is Oz in trouble?"

Willow shook her head.

"No. The FBI and some other agency interviewed him and tried to bully him with legal threats but he's too smart to fall for that, he's safe as long as he stays away from me."

Tara locked eyes with her, her blue pools of calm reminding her partner to not panic.

"From us, not just you. This is not your fault, Will. Not yours, not mine, not Faith's or Dawn's, not even Soledad. It's the fault of those police officers, of that Michael Madison that tried to feed us to the vampire cult."

Willow went back to pacing, gesturing emphatically as she went.

"But I should've listened to you! I should've remained in the car, got to the station and we'd be released in the morning as free people. They broke the rules and we'd be in the right!"

Tara shot up from the bed and embraced her.

"No. I was wrong. I would've been right if it was just normal harassment but it wasn't, it was a trap. You heard what they said, they were going to abuse their power because they could. And police protect their own, we'd find no allies and we'd be locked up with a bunch of men with no supervision. Is that what you'd rather want to happen to us?"

Willow's eyes went wide and she leaned back from the embrace, once again locking eyes with Tara.

"NEVER! I, just, I could have found another way. I could've done better. But I would never let them touch you like that. I, just, I just failed."

"Failed what, hun?"

"I failed to keep my promise. I promised you a long time ago that you never again would be persecuted for who you are and yet here we are, on the run from the law and running out of food, money and gas. Again I've put your life in danger and I just don't know what to do anymore. We still don't know where to go. Can we even stay in the country? What will happen to Dawnie? And Faith! She broke out of prison to help me and now I've made her a fugitive again. I just can't stop ruining the lives of those I love!"

"Again, sweetie, not you. Faith chose to come with you, we all did. We all agreed to leave Sunnydale, to go and help Soledad. She died, yes, but she died helping others. She tried to do better because we tried to help her. I don't know where to go but I know that no matter what, you have me. And as long as you want to, I have you. And as long as that is true little else matters, okay?"

Willow attempted to wipe the tears away with her wrist without much success but offered a small smile in response.

"Okay. And you know you'll always have me. Always, no matter what. Even if you never wanted to touch or talk with me again I'd be ready to help at a moment's notice. I'd stay away, because you'd ask me to, but I'd always be willing to help. Always."

The passionate kiss that followed was interrupted by a recognizable pattern of knocks and Willow grunted an invitation, her lips not leaving Tara's.

The other girls entered, Faith with a six-pack of beer and Dawn with her biology textbook. Even though she wouldn't be able to get the GED due to the whole 'wanted fugitive'-deal she kept studying to keep her mind from their situation, especially once they had reached Cleveland earlier that day. Going out to drink risked getting noticed both by locals but also by the members of the New Watchers' Council that was headquartered in the city on account of the local Hellmouth. They were already taking a risk with the plans for the next morning and Dawn did not want to be the one that caused the incarceration of the group.

"Hey you two, we knocked. Unless you're about to invite us to join you'd better stop or I'd be getting wicked hot and bothered in a room where I couldn't do anything about it!"

Dawn groaned as the giggle from the kissing pair pulled them apart, Willow turning away from the visitors to hide her eyes, red from the earlier tears she shed.

"Sorry Faithy, we'll be good." Tara protested as she ran her tongue over her lips, intending both to tease Faith and to savor the Willowy taste. She returned to her earlier place in the bed by the headboard while Willow sat down at the edge of the bed, Faith joining her soon after. Dawn sat down with her books by the sole table in the corner and read absentmindedly while Faith was updated on the call with Oz.

After a few minutes of calm and opening of bottles, Dawn frowned at the book.

"Hey Will, quick question. In here it mention that the idea of the Alpha Wolf is a myth, a mistake based on earlier research on wolves in captivity. But when we met the werewolves in Arizona they had a designated Alpha, I thought that was from the wolf packs? Is that where the assumption about wolf pack Alphas come from?"

Willow was quiet for a few moments, deep in thought, and then shrugged. "I actually don't know where it's from. I read a lot about werewolves when I was on Oz Duty in the library cage but the idea of Alphas was mentioned a lot in the more recent texts, not at all in those that predate the sixties."

"Actually, Red, they don't have Alphas either. At least, not naturally."

Dawn beamed a smile at her girlfriend, hoping Faith wasn't offended that she had asked Willow instead of her.

"Oh? How'd you find that out? I thought you said that you dropped out of school before you got into advanced bio?"

"Well, Shieldy, that's kind of, uh, embarrassing." Her eyes shifted between Willow and Dawn. "I first realized it when I tried to become Oz' Alpha back in '99."

Willow's brows shot up in puzzlement. "What? You did?"

Faith looked down at her hands.

"Yeah. I tried to establish my dominance over him, discreetly, once I join the mayor. I wanted to turn him into an asset and then, well, sick him on you when your guard were down. I'm glad I failed and realized quickly that there was no such thing as Alphas in werewolves, at least not unless artificially created."

Willow looked as if struck by the blade that Faith had threatened her with during that time. Faith didn't dare to look at her, fearing the rejection she knew she risked by coming clean, and soon started to get up to give her best friend some space. Before she had even left the bed her wrist was stuck in a steel grip and she looked up, her eyes meeting Willow's.

"Faith, it's okay. You've apologized for that time and so have I. That's not you anymore just like I'm not the Willow that was together with Oz. Please don't leave, that'd hurt more than this revelation ever could."

Faith nodded slowly and remained seated. "He never realized what I was doing, you know that right? I was very careful because both of us know that if he ever found out he'd tell me and my cover would've been blown."

"Yeah, I know that. Thanks for saying it anyway." Willow offered a conciliatory smile.

"Anyway, after that test, I did some reading and found out that the idea of the Alpha is only apparent in captive wolf packs. So, if anything I'd say it's ironic that werewolves who have pack Alphas are the ones who unwittingly submit themselves to the captivity of human society. Oz, and others like him? They are the real free spirits, the real lone wolves."

"Yeah, that's our Oz alright. I don't think that van of his would be able to house a full werewolf pack anyway, even if he wanted to. Besides, it's seen enough already with the rocket launcher, the Dingoes' band equipment as well as some fun times with Will that she think nobody knows about."

Dawn took Willow's glare in stride as she shielded herself with a playful grin.


	15. August 3, 2003. Cleveland, Ohio

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reunion, Goodbyes and Sightseeing

_*Knock knock*_

"Professor Burkle?"

The brown-haired woman took no notice of her assistant's attempt to get a response. It was nothing new as the staff and students at the Ohio Instrumentation, Controls & Electronics Department were more than used to the erratic behavior from their newest - but by far the most talented - researcher. She didn't have many friends amongst the colleagues and mostly kept to herself, her strange behaviors that were formed by years of trauma and pain made her a bit of a loner outside her research labs.

_*Knock knock*_

"Burkle? Your two-o'-clock appointment is here!"

Still nothing. It had become a common enough occurrence for her assistant to find the researcher unreachable when she became 'in the zone'. They had agreed upon a solution to absolve the poor guy when he was forced to intrude the many times she remained unreachable; following to attempts that achieved no response he was instructed to just force his way into the office.

He opened the door with an apologetic grin. "I'm sorry ladies, Freddy does this quite often. She's only been here for a few weeks and still hasn't realized that using headphones mean that we can't reach her." He let in the two young women before leaving and closed the door after him. The red-haired woman in sunglasses moved up to Fred and tapped her shoulder which shook the young savant from her intensive scribbling on the whiteboard in front of her with a loud yelp.

She removed her headphones and the loud thrash metal was loud enough to be heard from where Tara stood on the other side of the room. "Oh shit you scared me. I thought y'all wouldn't come here until 2PM?"

"Sweetie," Tara grinned. "It's a quarter past two. We were afraid we'd miss you because we had a hard time finding your office; it's pretty deep in the building."

"Oh yeah that's what happen when you're the most recent hire. But how awesome to see y'all, I was so glad when I got the mail yesterday requesting an urgent meeting from 'Miss Salix and Miss Terra'. Are Faith and Dawnie okay," Fred asked as she moved to turn off her portable CD-player.

"Yeah, they're fine," Willow assured her. "We just felt we shouldn't move around in public as a group, our faces are becoming too recognizable these days."

"That's a smartie move. I've heard of some of the stuff you've done and I'm sorry to hear about that Soledad girl."

"How'd you know it was her? The name's been kept off the waves due to her age," Tara queried.

Fred shrugged. "We got the same 'friend' in the Council. They told me what y'all tried to do and how you were set up. Assholes."

Willow nodded grimly. "At least the heat's been cooling a bit. We can't exactly go out and get a mortgage but they're not actively APB-ing us anymore."

Fred gave an apologetic smile and Tara felt her heart sink and a quick glance at Willow turning stiff assured her that it wasn't just her own intuition warning them of bad news.

"What's the bad news, Fred?"

The scientist moved to her desk and unlocked the bottom drawer. From it she retrieved an unaddressed envelope that she gave to Willow who quickly opened and read it with a frown.

"Sweetie? What does it say?"

Willow read it again, this time so all three of the women could hear it.

_To the House of Sappho_

_The emancipation has been rescinded after proven fraudulent. The Slayers have been ordered to co-operate with the police if you're found as Buffy has negotiated a deal to clear Dawn of all charges if you're apprehended before she turns 18. Keep a low profile and stay out of trouble and whatever you do; do NOT approach Buffy._

_Good luck_   
_Your Friend_

"Well that's no big change? Dawnie's birthday is at the start of next year and all you-"

"It's a biggie. The cops and the feds don't know much about how we think or what resources we have that are not documented. Buffy, Giles and Xander knows us, all four of us. Buffy is going to go in to clear Dawnie's name and if we're collateral damage it's not something she'll be very bothered by - we burned our bridges with her once we forged those papers. Right now we're also child abductors in the eyes of the law on top of everything else. They're going to catch us and we'll put away and I'll never see any of you again and-"

Tara rushed up and pulled Willow into a deep embrace while Fred stood frozen by the panicked babble. She was no stranger to babbling - especially not of the Willowy kind - but this wasn't the nervous or excited kind she'd seen and even spouted herself. Willow's eyes shone of a fear that Fred had rarely seen. Not when they faced down a possessed Cordelia or battled the First Evil. This was a Willow that knew that she hadn't just lost a chance to settle in the country of her birth for the rest of her life but also had lost any chance of ever reconnecting with most, if not all, of her old friends.

"We need to find Faith and Dawn," Tara finally stated without emotion. "If the Watchers are actively out looking for them there's a big chance they've already found out where we're hiding."

  
  


* * *

"Shouldn't they be here already? I know Willow like to drive like an old lady but Tara is usually faster than this."

Dawn nervously glanced through the venetian blinds of their room for what Faith estimated was the twentieth time in the last five minutes. It had been just over half an hour before Willow called them as they were leaving Fred's office on campus and even though they've kept to a strategy of always being prepared to move out within a minute's notice it was nothing they could do until their traveling partners arrived.

The younger girl had raged and cursed her sister's name after they were told of her revoked emancipation while Faith had stoically spectated, letting the teenager vent her frustration in the relative safety of their motel room. It wasn't until Dawn had collapsed, sobbing, on the floor after roughly ten minutes of some of the more creative cursing the ex-con had heard that she moved to console her girlfriend. She refused to show the fear that was gripping her heart and grieved for the loss of any kind of stability in their foreseeable future.

Faith loved the chaos and danger that being a Slayer gave her. She wasn't the same violent girl she had been when she was first called but the instincts and subliminal draw towards physical release was never something she could completely escape and if she was honest with herself she didn't really want to either. What she didn't want, however, was for Dawnie to never experience the confidence that having a control of one's own destiny that the universe refused to grant her.

Every time Dawn had tried to grasp at her own future she had been punished for it. When it wasn't by Glory or Buffy or even the First Evil it was by society in general. She couldn't just be allowed to experience a thrilling road-trip without the universe conspiring to ruin her life and brand her as a criminal runaway. Dawn was so kind and Faith hated to see her getting railroaded down the same dark path she had travelled.

Faith decided then that she had to do a lead them down a detour that was dangerous but could grant them a reprieve from the constant struggle that life threw at them.

"Hey D? I'm going out for a smoke."

"Now? But what if anyone sees you?"

"Look, I haven't had a smoke since breakfast and once the girls arrive we're going to bail in a truck for I-don't-know-how-long and none of you allow me to light up while we're on the road. Unless you want me to literally flip other cars while we're stuck in traffic then I'm gonna need to cool the nerves."

Dawn grinned. She appreciated the stoic but loving support that Faith had given her after the small breakdown but she knew the Slayer well enough to identify it as a defensive measure to hide her own fears over their predicament. The return of the cursing and trash-talking bitch they loved meant that Faith had refocused and possibly even had a plan to move forward. Still, if Dawn didn't provide the requisite faux-protests then Faith would instead grow nervous she'd actually offended her and instead both played their parts in a well-rehearsed and comfortable play.

"Fine. Just go out and burn your lungs away then Fay, see if I care when you're stuck with respirators before we manage to escape Ohio!"

Faith grinned and kissed her before heading out the front door. She pulled out a smoke and patted her pants as she tried to find the cheap lighter she had stolen from the last truck stop they refueled at.

A lit safety match extended from her side and she accepted it with a frown.

"You know, those things will kill you," the deep voice chided her.

"Not as fast as those matches could end you first."

"Why do you think I gave up smoking, Faith?"

"Because your demon is a lot more health-conscious than your soul, Angel."

He turned around and leaned back towards the railing she rested her shoulders on as she worked on the cigarette.

"How long have you been in town?"

"Since yesterday. Dawn and the witches left me here so I'd buy time for them to get away from B."

"Come on Faith, you know you're a bad liar. I know Willow and her girl are out right now but I can smell Dawn from here, despite that smoke."

"Can't blame a girl for trying. And it's not like you're that good to keep secrets either. When are you going to tell me that B is hiding on the roof?"

"I told Buffy it wouldn't work but she had to try."

"'Course."

A distinctive noise of heeled shoes meeting concrete informed Faith of the arrival of the other Slayer.

"Hey B. Out for a stroll?"

"Cut the crap, Faith. It's time to stop this farce," Buffy spoke through clenched teeth.

"Yeah, I heard you decided to make sure your sis would hate you for the rest of your lives. Nice going."

"I take it you've heard what's going on then," Angel asked as he tried to cool the growing tempers of the two rivals.

"Yeah. Big B refused to let D live her own life and sacrificed two of her best friends - and me - to force the poor woman to be treated as an infant for another half a year before she's gone. For good."

"Cut the crap Faith. Dawn's going to get over you and we'll become a family again, like it used to be. I'll keep her safe instead of letting her become a getaway driver for a group of criminal idiots murdering their way across America."

Faith froze for a moment before flipping away the remainder of her smoke.

"You're still under the illusion that you have any idea what Dawn actually want to do with her life then? You're willing to ruin her life and your relationship with your last blood relative because you're too stubborn to comprehend that she's not a kid anymore?"

Buffy withdrew the Scythe she had hung over her back as she turned towards Faith.

"Angel, go inside and get my baby sister so we can leave this rat brothel."

Faith grinned at her counterpart. "Wouldn't recommend it, B. The girls warded up our rooms something wicked fierce, any vamp or demon who try to enter without their word are torched on sight." She turned to Angel. "I'm only warning you because I owe you, Angel. Doesn't mean I'll end you if you try to hurt D or the girls in this idiotic quest of yours to back B's crusades no matter what."

Angel gave an appreciative nod as a response but kept his gaze locked at Faith. "Maybe you should get your sister instead, Buffy."

The door flew open and the wooden end of Dawn's extendable spear was suddenly aimed at Angel's heart.

"How about you both get lost and just leave us the fuck alone," Dawn hissed.

Buffy fumed but refused to raise her weapon against her sister. "For crying out loud Dawnie, stop this stupidity and come back home!"

"When will you get it through your thick skull that I AM home. Home is with Faith. Home is with Will and Tara. You haven't been part of my home for a long time, Buffy."

Angel looked at the wooden end that was only an inch away from giving him a swift and very dusty end and spoke through clenched teeth. "Buffy, maybe a non-violent approach is more applicable here?"

"Dawn. Don't you dare hurt Angel. Even though I can't touch you I'm still very much armed while Faith? Isn't."

The youngest of the Summers sisters turned to her with a glare and Angel took the opportunity to skip backwards and out of range of the polearm. Buffy took the chance to swing her Scythe around towards a waiting Faith. It wasn't a lethal blow, it was the shaft of the weapon that provided the strike point aimed to disable the younger Slayer.

The hit never came and both Angel and Buffy suddenly started to levitate five feet into the air unable to move their limbs. It wouldn't have taken them long to figure out why they were stuck in that state even if they had somehow managed to miss the sudden appearance of Willow and Tara.

"What the flying heckmaster do you think you're doing, Buff?"

"Let me down Willow," Buffy growled.

"Hi Willow. Hi Tara." Angel greeted them with an apologetic smile. Everyone, including Buffy, knew he wasn't taking part of this action due to a deep-seated belief that Buffy was in the right. He was there because of Buffy and everyone knew it. It wasn't something anyone held a grudge over since it also meant that Buffy would not be allowed to kill Faith, the younger Slayer being far too important to Angel for him to allow his girlfriend to murder her in cold blood.

Not that Buffy would, they reckoned. Probably not. It wasn't in her usual nature but everyone present knew that the Buffy that was brought back to life was far from the same that had sacrificed her life for her sister, for her friends and for her world.

"Are you both okay," Tara asked while Willow kept her focus on the intruders.

Faith hadn't moved since before Buffy started to swing her weapon and just shrugged. "Yeah we're A-OK T. Time to scramble?"

"Time to move. Dawnie, get your stuff and I'll clear out our room. Don't hurt them Sweetie, okay?"

Tara kissed a resolute Willow on the cheek and the witch couldn't prevent the flushed grin that undercut her attempt to appear threatening. Faith grinned and took over the 'bad cop' role in the confrontation.

"Okay B, here's how it gonna be. We're gonna drive out of here and you and your girls will stay away from us or pain will be their close acquaintances. Any objections?"

"Am I also to expect pain next time we meet," Angel asked in a chiding tone. He understood their anger but was disappointed in Faith's continued decisions to regress into violent confrontations.

"Sorry Angel, you're still considered one of the girls," Faith responded apologetically.

"Faith, there's no way in hell you're going to leave with my sister."

"Buffy," the Slayer's use of the full name drew immediate reactions from everyone else present. "I'm done with this. We won't tolerate you trying to ruin D's life again. We all grieved that we had to sacrifice our - well their - friendships with you to ensure D could forge her own future but it wasn't until you arrived today I realize that there'll be no turning back, at least not for D. If she would chose to be all wicked close to you in the future when this all has blown over I'll support her but you have no idea the damage you just did today."

"Faith's right," Willow continued. "I hate that we were forced to hurt you but we couldn't watch Dawnie wallow in neglect and depression anymore. She had a chance to do something for herself and she was even working on her GEDs to ensure she would still have options once she had decided on what she wanted to do long-term. It wasn't until we were trying to do the supposed job of your Council - when we were trying to save Soledad - that her chance to get a high school diploma was really shot to hell. But what you did now - when you tried to sell us out for crimes we hadn't committed in order to force her to come back to you - you really messed things up. Trust me, I'm like the master of messing up and this here is beyond what I ever did."

"That's bull Will and you know it. You violated Tara, you almost killed Dawn and _you-you staked Spike_ ," she spat out the last few words but was undercut by Angel's poorly concealed chuckle.

"As I said, I screwed up. But I didn't betray you, not like this. I have never sold you out for personal gain. Faith didn't sell you out to the police when she turned herself in for Finch's death either."

Tara and Dawn both reappeared in the gathering and handed over a couple of bags to Faith.

"Will's right," Tara somberly added. "I'm going to miss you Buffy and we'll always love you but this was too far. Goodbye."

She headed towards their truck with Faith silently following her. Only Dawn and Willow remained.

"I hope we'll meet again, sis. I just hope it's not for many years because you really need to get over yourself before we can ever reconcile otherwise."

Dawn lowered her head and wiped away a lonely tear before she followed the other two women to their vehicle. Willow remained and whispered a word to enable Buffy's speech again.

"For crying out loud let me the fuck down Willow! You can't do this to me; you can't just steal my family like this!"

"Buffy, family is not an object. Family is people and right now we're Dawnie's family and we'll remain so for as long as she wants us. I love you and I miss you but I can't trust you won't just immediately go to the cops once I've let you down."

Angel suddenly looked worried. He didn't know how much of the reports and stories he'd heard about Willow in the last four years were true but what he'd seen with his own eyes were enough to not completely remove all doubts that they'd get away from the Red Valkyrie's reprimand in one piece.

"I won't hurt you. This time. But you better stay away from our family or you'll see why what happened in New Mexico was considered an 'act of God' for insurance purposes. You if anyone knows how little I tolerate threats against those under my protection."

Buffy's cold glare was answer enough for the small-framed witch who felt the longing pangs of the friendship they once had.

"Goodbye Buffy. I'll keep Dawnie safe for you."

From an outsider's perspective the Seidh had just disintegrated both of her hovering victims, leaving no trace for anyone to find. For the couple who were just teleported to the roof of a downtown investment firm's high rise it was just an extremely frustrating setback. Willow knew that none of them were any good with carrying their mobile phones on missions and they soon found out that this firm wouldn't have any staff for the next twelve hours, having closed early that day and thereby giving the four Outlaws a chance to get some distance between them and their pursuers.

When later talking about that day Willow liked to boast that she had studied the schedules of the firm in question and that everything was planned out before they even approached Cleveland as a contingency plan. Tara let her have that story even though she knew that it was just dumb luck; they had driven past the building on their way back to the motel and Willow liked the architectural design of the structure and saw it again in the distance while she hovered her two captives.

But sometimes dumb luck is just enough.


End file.
